Locals Raise For GWAAC Air Ambulance

The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) have announced that their recent Love Your Air Ambulance month fundraising initiative has been a success.

During the month, members of the public were encouraged to raise funds through dress down days at work or school, as well as bake sales.

Thanks to the support of the 2.1m people within the region that they serve, £8409 was raised, which will go towards GWAAC’s overall target of raising £250,000 to fund a new helicopter.

The total for the month includes £4787 that was raised through a Valentine’s ball that was held on Saturday 16^th February, organised by the family and friends of former patient Andrew Bryce.

GWAAC are the only providers of an air ambulance service for Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Gloucestershire and parts of West Wiltshire. The charity is currently trying to raise £250,000 of additional funds for a new Eurocopter EC135 helicopter to replace the ageing Bolkow 105 model that it currently uses.

Built in the 1970’s, it is the last air ambulance charity in the country to rely exclusively on an aircraft this old, and needs to upgrade to provide a better level of care for the people of the region.

A new helicopter would attend to patients four minutes faster, would allow a mother and child to fly to hospital together and would allow more space for the patient, equipment and mid-air treatment.

Speaking about the success of the campaign, chief executive John Christensen said: “We are delighted that the people of our region have taken note and supported our cause during Love Your Air Ambulance month in February.

“The funds that have been raised will go towards helping to fund a new helicopter, which is desperately needed to ensure that the service we provide continues for years to come.”

“Unfortunately, the challenge isn’t over for us yet, and we need to ensure that the people we serve continue to support us as we receive no funding from the Government or the National Lottery, and we still have some way to go before our £250,000 target is met. We look forward to National Air Ambulance week in September, details of which will be announced shortly.”

To find out more about GWAAC and their ‘Movin’ on Up’ campaign to raise funds for a new helicopter, please visit www.greatwesternairambulance.com. The Air Ambulance charity is also currently the NOW Bath 2013 Charity of the Year.