Anglia Lift Off Issue 35 Summer 2014

ANGLIA

LIFTOFF

ISSUE 35 SUMMER 2014

Suggested donation £1.50

DAD’S THANK YOU

EAAA GRAND PRIX

RUNWAY RUN

Tony’s challenge after son stopped breathing

30 teams tackle karting challenge

New venue for 2014

Page 5

Page 13

Page 18

Medical Director pledges ‘very best treatment’ for patients

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Thank you for supporting the work of East Anglian Air Ambulance and for taking the time to read this edition of ‘Anglia Lift Off’. As Director of Fundraising I’m delighted to now have responsibility for this introduction to the magazine – giving me a further opportunity to connect with our supporters and to say how much EAAA especially values the regular contribution of our lottery players. Your £1 a week may not seem a lot, but it makes a significant difference to us.

Baby’s breathing drama

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Dates for the diary

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Food company’s support

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NCS teams choose EAAA

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Medical Director on board

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Coin collection boost

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Missions flown

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As you may already be aware, Tim Page who held the post of Chief Executive for the past three years left the organisation in April. Tim made a great contribution to EAAA and we look forward to building on that. Whilst we seek a new Chief Executive I have taken on the role of interim Chief Operating Officer and I am delighted that Patrick Peal, who is a founding member of EAAA and a trustee, has agreed to work with us as interim Chief Executive. I am confident that his knowledge and experience will help to bridge the gap between appointments. I know that the trustees have every confidence that the management team will maintain the high standards and professionalism that people have come to expect from EAAA. I also have great pleasure in welcoming our new Medical Director, Alastair Wilson, who brings a wealth of experience in air ambulance work to EAAA and you can find out more about him on page 11.

Grand Draw launched

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Runway Run’s new home

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Best feet forward

20

How to help

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If you receive this copy of ‘Anglia Lift Off’ in the post you will find two other items within the mailing. One is our annual merchandise brochure, which also includes details of this year’s Christmas card range. I know it always seems incredible to be talking about Christmas in early summer but previous years’ experience has taught us that many of our supporters like to order their cards before they are more widely available and it’s wonderful that so many people choose to support us through their Christmas wishes. The other item is a codicil, following enquiries about gifts in wills from our supporters. More information about using a codicil and making a gift in a will can be found on page 22.

If you choose to use this now, or at some point in the future, and whether you wish to mention this to us or not, please accept a heartfelt thank you for supporting our work by doing so.

Finally, I always feel inspired by the many different activities that people undertake to raise funds for the charity but running 26.2 miles is really an incredible achievement; a number of supporters did so this year in the Virgin Money London Marathon and between them, as we went to print, they had raised the amazing sum of £25,000 with donations still coming in – find out more on page 20. I hope the stories within these pages will inspire you also – whether it is the news about our missions and the patients we help, the tireless work by our wonderful volunteers or the efforts that people go to in raising money to allow our life-saving work to continue.

Whether you are a long term supporter of the charity, or you have picked up this magazine for the first time, I do hope you find it interesting and inspiring to read about our critical helicopter emergency medical service.

Melanie Nightingale Director of Fundraising

CONTACT US

Your regional fundraiser: North Cambridgeshire/West Norfolk – Chris Donaldson 106 Culley Court, Bakewell Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE2 6WA. 01733 367208 email: christopher.donaldson@eaaa.org.uk South Cambridgeshire – Barbara McGee Melbourn Science Park, Cambridge Road, Melbourn SG8 6EE. 01763 262697 email: barbara.mcgee@eaaa.org.uk Suffolk – Barbara McGee Whitehouse Distribution Centre, Whitehouse Road, Ipswich IP1 5NX. 01473 745007 email: barbara.mcgee@eaaa.org.uk Norfolk – Amy Franklin Hangar E, Gambling Close, Norwich Airport, Norwich NR6 6EG 01603 489406 email: amy.franklin@eaaa.org.uk Bedfordshire – Kay Marter The Rufus Centre, Steppingley Road, Flitwick, Bedfordshire MK45 1AH 01525 718517 email: kay.marter@eaaa.org.uk General enquiries: 0845 066 9999 Website: www.eaaa.org.uk Email: info@eaaa.org.uk Lottery: lottery@eaaa.org.uk Charity number:

1083876

Editor:

Clare Phillips liftoff@eaaa.org.uk www.barberjackson.com www.barnwellprint.co.uk

Design: Print:

By using Carbon Balanced Paper through the World Land Trust on this publication we have offset 1550kg of Carbon & preserved 1300sqm of critically threatened tropical forests.

Carbon Balanced Paper. One of the most sustainable forms of communication that will reduce your carbon foot print and promote CSR. www.carbonbalancepaper.com

Cover picture: Anglia Two in Biggleswade courtesy of Andy Thomas (see page 15)

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NEWS HELP KEEP OUR COSTS LOW East Anglian Air Ambulance endeavours to keep its charity costs as effective as possible. ‘Anglia Lift Off’ is currently sent in the post to thousands of supporters, because we feel it is important to keep people informed about the work they are supporting.

However in this digital age many people now read our magazine on our website or via an app that can be downloaded to your tablet or mobile device. This has had the benefit of making information about our work much more widely available to new supporters, which is good for us and also brings additional advantages for the companies who support us with advertising. However, we now hope that some of our existing supporters will choose to access our magazine in this way too – to help cut our printing and postage costs.

If you would like to have ‘Anglia Lift Off’ sent to your tablet or mobile device, please search for EAAA in the App Store or on Google Play and download our free app. Every time an new edition becomes available you will receive a push notification. Once you have downloaded the app, please let us know we no longer need to post it to you by emailing your name and address to lottery@eaaa.org.uk.

We are very grateful to Barnwell Print Tablet Publishing who have developed the app for us and also print this magazine.

The company has generously sponsored the development of an Android version of the app which is now available in Google Play.

Find out more by visiting our website www.eaaa.org.uk and looking in the Publications section.

CARD SALES BOOST For many years we have been delighted to work with the Cards for Good Causes organisation which runs charity Christmas card shops during October and November in a number of towns in our region.

Last year our partnership resulted in the highest amount raised for EAAA since we became involved. Thank you to everyone who helped raise more than £9,500 through these shops and look out for them again in the usual places from October this year. In the meantime though, if you would like to put your order in sooner to ensure you have first choice of all our available Christmas cards this year then please find a copy of our latest brochure included with mailings of this magazine.

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KEEP UP WITH US

ONLINE

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for regular postings about news, events and pictures. Find us on Facebook as East Anglian Air Ambulance Charity and on Twitter as @ EastAngliAirAmb. We also have Facebook and Twitter pages for each of the four counties we cover and regularly share their content. Here’s what people have been talking about recently:

Angela Sutherland 12 weeks ago today you helped save our little boy Freddie, words will never be enough to tell you how grateful we are for your organisation and the work you do! He’s doing well, no relapse as of yet. Have signed up for the lottery and working on a few ideas to do some fundraising for you. If there’s anything we can do to help you further please let us know...

@sarahfestivals Watching the Marathon! Inspired me to get my trainers on & do more training for GEAR in aid of the most amazing cause @EastAngliAirAmb

Gladys Lynn I would like to wish my grandson Stephen good luck today with the half marathon he is doing today for East Anglian Air Ambulance Charity who saved his life in 2012. I am so proud of him love you loads xxxx

@4littlesangels @EastAngliAirAmb thank u to Tim lightfoot, mark milsom & chris sherriff 4 all your good work we r forever grateful 4 what you done for Steve

Shaun Harley Huge thanks to Mark Berry for his £100 donation towards our charity match in May, Simon Patterson for sorting out a signed Dean Shiels top and Robert Dempsey for £100 to put into our raffle... you are all amazing and I can’t thank you enough... East Anglian Air Ambulance Charity will benefit from this immensely

@CharityCycle14 The Race Night we held Saturday Night raised over £1600 for @EastAngliAirAmb so we are a bit closer to our £10k target. #london2paris

DAD’S CHALLENGE AFTER BABY STOPS BREATHING Every parent of a new-born knows the worry when something is not quite right. Even if they have other children the flashing thought of ‘should I call the doctor’ is hard-wired into the mind of a parent – Tony and b a and fortunately most of the time just a few seconds later that mum Critical Ca by Will meet Anglia re Parame One’s crew dic Captain Ste o or dad is breathing a sigh of relief that in fact all was well after all. ve Norris (R Gary Steward (L) a f n d ) But when Tony Schamp’s son Will was less than a month old last summer he went through the sort of scare that any parent fears - and he’s sure that it’s thanks to the swift actions of a local paramedic and the crew of Anglia One that baby Will received the care he needed to bring him back to full health.

Tony (42) was at his parents’ home in Mundesley, Norfolk, with his partner Vicki and her daughter Amelia (seven). Tony’s son Ben (13) had gone fishing nearby with his grandfather and the two of them watched the air ambulance circling overhead and wondered to each other who it was going to help – little guessing that it was the youngest member of their own family.

The drama began when Tony picked up Will after a sleep and discovered his four-week old son wasn’t breathing. He said: “I realised he’d gone a funny colour and from that moment everything that happened is really a bit of a blur. I was sure he’d be OK in a minute but I remember looking at my mum, who was ashen-faced and she was saying she’d call the ambulance.”

A local paramedic arrived, quickly followed by Anglia One which landed in a field nearby. The clinicians worked together to get Will breathing again and stabilised him so that he could be taken to hospital in Norwich by road. Fortunately after two days in hospital he was allowed back home and hasn’t suffered any problems since. Tony added: “I don’t think they ever really found out what caused him to stop breathing at that moment – but the doctors told me that it’s something that can sometimes happen to a very young baby and that the chances are it will never happen again.”

Tony said that the relief he felt as the emergency crews arrived and took control of the situation was immeasurable. “When the paramedics and doctor were treating him there on the floor it really hit home what I pay my taxes for. But then I found out that the air ambulance isn’t funded by the NHS and that it’s all thanks to the generosity of people’s charity donations that it was there for Will at that time.”

The incident left Tony determined to do some fund-raising of his own to say thank you. Together with a friend he decided to enter a gruelling two-day ultra-marathon along the length of Hadrian’s Wall from Carlisle to Gateshead. The event will take place a few days after the anniversary of Will’s emergency on June 22 & 23. Tony will aim to complete 35 miles each day of the challenge camping overnight halfway and carrying essential kit at all times including first-aid equipment, food and drink.

As a P.E. teacher at Sprowston High School, Tony is already used to exercise and keeping fit but he knows that this challenge is going to be like no other he has undertaken. He’s run a marathon in the past but realises that this will be much tougher.

Pupils at the school have supported Tony after he held an assembly about the work of the air ambulance for 250 11 and 12 year olds in Year Seven. They have held charity activities around Sport Relief and Tony is also looking to fundraise through footballing activities. To help his training he’s also taken to running the 10k journey to and from school.

Tony said: “Without donations to keep it going the air ambulance wouldn’t have been there when I needed it. Please help me to help them help more people like my baby boy.” To support Tony please visit www.justgiving.com/Tony-Schamp.

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Summer is a very busy time for fundraising for the East Anglian Air Ambulance charity and we are very grateful to everyone involved in these activities. Although we can’t feature everything held to benefit the charity within this magazine, here are just a few forthcoming events that we hope will be well supported. If you are organising an event for the air ambulance please let us know about it in advance (contact details on page 3) and we will help you to promote it. Details of future fundraising events can be found on our website.

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FRIDAY 11 JULY

SPARKLE IN THE NIGHT SKY CHARITY BALL WOODBRIDGE, SUFFOLK

Ufford Park Hotel at Melton is the venue for our second charity ball for supporters in Suffolk.

With tickets priced at £40 a head it’s a chance to enjoy pre-dinner drinks on the terrace, a delicious three course meal and dancing to music from Ashton Jones and the Inner Heart Funk Band.

Emergencies permitting we anticipate that the helicopter will also land during the course of the evening to allow the crew to meet supporters. For more information and to book tickets please phone 01473 745007.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 19/20 JULY

WROXHAM & HOVETON LIONS CHARITY MOTOR SHOW

THE NORFOLK SHOWGROUND, NORWICH This charity motor show is organised and run by the Wroxham and Hoveton Lions Club. Proceeds this year will be distributed equally between the East Anglian Air Ambulance, EACH and Lions Local Charities.

The star attraction for this year’s show is the Wildcats Aerobatic Team. There will be new cars from local dealerships, a variety of classic cars and motorcycles, classic trucks & buses, military vehicles, craft and charity stalls, trade stands, live music, Police and Fire vehicles, children’s rides and amusements, competitions, a live auction and grand prize draw raffle. The ever-popular Star Wars Characters and Daleks will also be attending.

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SATURDAY 19 JULY

MEET THE EAAA HELICOPTER AND CREW Once a year we are able to give our supporters the opportunity to have a close up look at the helicopter at a special ‘open day’ event at different locations in our region. This year find us at:

HELICOPTER IN THE PARK WARDOWN PARK, LUTON

Charity supporters, volunteers and those who would simply like to find out more about us are invited to come along for a fun day out and meet our crew when the helicopter flies in for a visit during the afternoon. The activities get underway at 10am with a variety of stalls as well as children’s entertainment including facepainting and rides. There will be live music during the day too. As well as the air ambulance there will a chance to meet members of the Luton and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue service and SERV motorcyclists who transport emergency blood supplies.

EAAA OPEN DAY

FERRY MEADOWS, PETERBOROUGH A similar event to the one above with our fundraising and promotional team at the park between 10am and 4pm. The helicopter will fly in for a visit lasting approximately two hours in the early part of the day. All supporters of the charity are welcome to come along, there is no need to book. However if you would like to use the opportunity to make a special presentation to the charity or you have been helped by our clinical crew and would like to take this opportunity to meet them please let us know in advance.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY 13/14 SEPTEMBER

CLASSIC AND VINTAGE VEHICLE SHOW PETERBOROUGH

SUNDAY 20 JULY

THETFORD AND DISTRICT MOTORCYCLE SHOW We have had great support from this event in the past and thank all the bikers who helped raise a fantastic £3,000 at the 2012 event. This year the show takes place again at the Rugby Club and the field will be open for camping the night before with a bar and music.

SATURDAY 26 JULY

OAKLEY MOTORCYCLE FESTIVAL BEDFORDSHIRE

Our friends at Oakley Motorcycle Club have supported us for many years raising more than £15,000. This event, at Oakley Sports and Social Club, promises to be a great day not just for enthusiasts but the whole family to enjoy. There will be live music, modern and classic bikes and a chance to meet motorcycling celebrities.

Download ANGLIA LIFT OFF as an app – see page 4.

SATURDAY 2 AUGUST

SOUTHWOLD MODEL RAILWAY EXHIBITION SUFFOLK

This annual two-day event at Saint Felix School has so far raised nearly £2,000 for EAAA and is now in its 26th year. On the first day of the show (which also takes place on Sunday 3 August) our fundraising and promotional team will be at the front of the school and it’s anticipated that one of our aircraft (missions permitting) will land at the school during the morning, while the school grounds are open to the public.

This is one of the biggest model railway events in the country and generously supports the charity with its raffle. There will be an opportunity for traction engine and steam train rides. The show opens at 10am each day and we’re grateful to Waveney Valley MRC for their support.

y exhibition Model railwa

East Anglian Air Ambulance is delighted to have been chosen as one of two charities to benefit from the first ever show of this kind to be taking place in Peterborough.

The two day show on The Embankment will offer a host of attractions including live music, arts and crafts, a funfair and plenty to eat and drink. But it’s the vehicles that will be taking centre stage. Expect to see displays of cars, motorbikes, commercial vehicles as well as vintage caravans, ex-military and tractors.

SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER

SEPTEMBER SWING CHARITY BALL PETERBOROUGH

Join our North Cambridgeshire fundraising team for this gala black tie event at the Holiday Inn West in Peterborough.

Guests will arrive for a champagne reception at 7pm, followed by a three course meal and dancing to the fabulous Polka Dots Ladies swing trio One of the and their six piece Polka Dots Ladies backing band.

These ladies are not to be missed!

There will also be a ‘money can’t buy’ auction, including a personal tour of Her Majesty’s Stud stables at Sandringham, and a fantastic ink drawing of the winner’s house by noted local artist Andy Scordellis, plus some more great lots.

We’re very grateful to our friends Peterborough Minster Rotary, who are helping us organise this prestigious event.

Tickets are £40 and tables are of 8 or 10. For more information please contact Chris Donaldson in our Peterborough office (see page 3).

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HEALTHY EATING NEW START FOR EAAA VOLUNTEER GLYN A Suffolk couple who impressed their friends with their home made chili products have seen their hobby grow into a successful business, giving them a complete career change.

Glyn & Nicki’s Howlin’ Hot Chili Jam

Now, being his own boss, Glyn Collins is able to devote some of his time to volunteering with the East Anglian Air Ambulance by using another of his passions – photography.

Glyn is performing a vital support service to our fundraising teams by Glyn Collins attending events to take photographs which can be used for promotional purposes by the charity. He’s also taken pictures of our crews at work at Cambridge Airport and says he hopes his pictures will encourage more people to support the charity’s work.

When he’s not helping EAAA with his photography skills Glyn runs two specialist food enterprises - The Greek Olive Company and The Black Dog Chili Company. He said: “We have the passion and ability to create amazing flavours together with an instinctive way of combining ingredients. We produce everything from chili jams that are bursting with fresh flavours of habaneros and truly hot, to the subtle spice mixes that delicately flavour our beautiful olives.”

The products are now made in a professional kitchen but Glyn and his wife Nicki started at home in their family kitchen. Glyn added: “I was working for an electrical company and Nicki had an office job – we had never done anything like this before but it has been better than we ever imagined it could be.” They manufacture chilli jams and sauces which are sold to restaurants as well as delicatessens, farm shops and other outlets.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT

OLIVES 1

2

A tapenade is an olive dip that can be made very quickly by blending a handful of pitted black olives, two or three roughly chopped garlic cloves, the zest of a lemon, a handful of flat leaf parsley and a tablespoon of olive oil in a food processor. It’s delicious with bread or crudités.

3

Olives are a good source of vitamin E.

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Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fat which is known as a ‘good fat’ and is considered helpful to those trying to lower their cholesterol.

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Extra virgin olive oil is made from the first cold pressing of olives and has a very low acidity rate.

APPLE APPEAL Graham Jackson, from Long Thurlow near Bury St Edmunds, turned an unusually bumper crop from his apple tree into vital funds for the charity by having the fruit pressed locally and selling the delicious, fresh apple juice to friends and family.

He said: “We’ve had apple juice produced from our old Crimson Bramley tree since 1999. Normally we aim to pick around 130kg of apples to yield about 75 litres of juice. When over 260kg were picked, and more remained on the tree, we decided to have extra apple juice made which would provide a profit to donate to the EAAA. One never knows when a rescue might be needed if you fall out of a tree!”

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(L) with Graham Jackson from EAAA

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MAKE A DIFFERENCE NATIONAL CITIZEN SERVICE SUPPORT

CAN YOU HELP?

NCS Team

Awesome Across the country throughout the spring, summer and autumn, thousands of teenagers embark on an incredible journey with National Citizen Service (NCS) to meet new people, learn new skills and give back to their community. NCS-ers spend two weeks away from home, taking on rock-climbing, trekking and team-building, as well as skills-building workshops.

The teams are set the task of improving their local area by devising and completing a social action project. They meet with local charities, and choose a cause that they want to support.

Two teams in Suffolk have recently worked with EAAA. Through bag packing and sponsored activities, Team Seven raised £1,915.82.

And Team Awesome raised over £800 from a ‘onesie walk’ from Stowmarket to Ipswich.

Both had special reasons for choosing our charity. Team Seven undertook their fundraising in memory of Halesworth and Framlingham doctor Darryl Peel who died after a bonfire accident.

His chances of survival had been greatly increased after the EAAA helicopter got him to a specialist burns unit in Chelmsford in just 20 minutes - instead of hours it could have taken by road.

Dr Peel’s son Sam was a member of Team Seven along with fellow member 17-year-old Georgia who said: “We took a terrible experience and we made something good out of it which helped a great charity and now we hope we can use our story and inspire other teenagers to do something amazing for a great cause.”

NCS is a four-week programme commissioned by the Cabinet Office and run by Reed in Partnership in conjunction with nine local providers across the East of England. The Suffolk programme is delivered by Future Creative. It equips 16 and 17 year-olds with the skills, attitudes and experiences to become responsible citizens, whilst having fun and making new friends with people they wouldn’t usually meet.

Anyone looking to take part in activities this summer can find out more by visiting www.ncseast.co.uk.

Start dates are available in July ven e S and August. m a e T CS

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We are always glad to hear from people who can give us their time, whether this is with a particular skill or helping out generally. Volunteers with our charity carry out all sorts of tasks from helping with admin work, to collecting and distributing fundraising tins, working with our promotional and fundraising team at events, assisting in our Ipswich shop or giving talks to local groups. If you would like to help us in this way please contact your nearest fundraising office – details can be found on page 3. We’d be delighted to have your help whether it’s on a regular or ad-hoc basis.

We have a number of events coming up this summer where some volunteer help is still needed. During July and August we have several collection days, usually a Friday or Saturday at supermarkets in the Cambridge, Newmarket and Haverhill areas. If you could spare a few hours to help us at one of these it would be enormously appreciated. To find out more please ring our fundraising team on 01763 262697.

THANK YOU….

In every issue of ‘Anglia Lift Off’ we try to feature some of our volunteers because they really are our ‘unsung heroes.’ This time we’d like to show our appreciation for Eve Hayward from Stowupland, Suffolk, who has organised a variety of fundraising events in her area over the last ten years. These have included bingo nights, a hog roast and a pudding night where they serve old school-dinner favourites like chocolate crunch. The evenings are always wellattended and Eve has raised nearly £10,000 so far.

She said: “I like to do all I can but if it wasn’t for the support of local businesses such as The Retreat Pub in Stowupland, we couldn’t do it.” Eve added: “Why do I support EAAA? Well, one day it might be me that needs help.”

Supporter Monica Mickleburgh got a surprise when her local radio station in King’s Lynn, KLFM, called round with a bunch of flowers for her as part of their Random Acts of Kindness initiative. Monica has been organising charity bingo and car boot sales for EAAA for a number of years and has raised around £15,000 so this seemed a perfect way to say thank you.

DELIVERING EXCELLENCE NEW MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR EAAA

“The EAAA thrives on its reputation and we must make sure that everything we do is of the highest quality. ” Alastair Wilson

East Anglian Air Ambulance has appointed its first Medical Director with Alastair Wilson joining to lead the clinical team, working alongside Brig. Professor Tim Hodgetts who has responsibility for Clinical Quality and Development.

Mr Wilson has an impressive background in Accident and Emergency medicine and in the delivery of emergency medical care by the roadside, founding the London Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), which has just celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Although much of his career was spent at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, from where he retired as a consultant in the Accident and Emergency Department last year, Mr Wilson has been associated with EAAA for some time before this appointment as a member of the charity’s operations committee. He has lived in West Norfolk for the last 15 years.

Mr Wilson is relishing the new challenge of Medical Director and is committed to ensuring that every detail of a patient’s treatment is the very best it can be. He said: “The EAAA thrives on its reputation and we must make sure that everything we do is of the highest quality. I want to make sure that there are no impediments to a patient getting the best treatment.”

Having studied medicine in Aberdeen, as a junior surgeon in London confronted with a young child with a serious chest injury, he recognised that doctors didn’t always manage trauma well. None of his senior colleagues were happy to perform surgery on the child. Mr Wilson realised that trauma care in the UK had to improve.

When offered a post as a consultant surgeon at the Royal London’s A & E department, he agreed to take the post only if he was allowed to develop a trauma system and start a HEMS operation.

So, back in the 1980s Mr Wilson started lobbying for London to have an air ambulance.

He found an ally at the highest possible level when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher supported the idea and before long the proposal was becoming a reality with generous backing from Express Newspapers. However, in the early days the fledgling service had many hurdles to overcome when the local authority – Tower Hamlets – took out an injunction to stop the helicopter landing at the hospital because of concerns from local residents about the noise. There were also concerns that the helicopter would direct injured patients away from small casualty departments that might close as a result.

Today Mr Wilson’s vision for trauma care is as strong as it ever was. He commented: “86% of people who die from trauma die from a head injury – and so we have to make sure that we can get patients directly to neurosurgical centres avoiding delays in other hospitals. I will spend my time working with hospitals to ensure this happens.

“Trauma is a disease of time. Any delay in emergency treatment is harmful and we must avoid it.”

The Royal London and other hospitals in the capital had their trauma abilities tested to their very limit in July 2005. Mr Wilson was the medical incident director at ‘The London’ when the 7/7 suicide bombers struck. The attacks on three tube trains and a bus killed 52 people and injured many more. Mr Wilson was one of the many medics, along with transport and emergency services staff who were recognised by The Queen for their efforts on that day. He was awarded the OBE. Having lived in Norfolk for as long as the EAAA service has been operating Mr Wilson has always taken an interest in its work. Now he says he takes great pleasure in being part of the air ambulance community and will enjoy working with people who are forward thinking in trauma.

The charity’s interim Chief Operating Officer Melanie Nightingale is delighted that he has joined the team. She said: “Alastair has a very impressive track record not just in accident and emergency medicine but also in his work with a busy air ambulance service. He’s also held a number of important national and international positions including President of the European Association of Trauma and Emergency Surgery and has twice been President of the British Trauma Society. EAAA is extremely fortunate to have someone of his calibre on board.”

One of the things that has impressed Mr Wilson about EAAA is the very genuine and generous support that the charity receives. He concluded: “The enthusiasm for the organisation reflects in what the charity is able to achieve, and the involvement of the community allows for conversation between the people on the ground raising money and the medical team. We need to reduce death and injury in East Anglia and we have to do that together.”

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FABULOUS FUNDRAISING Fundraising events help us to keep the two air ambulance helicopters serving the people of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk seven days a week. If you have organised an event why not send pictures and details of the day to liftoff@eaaa.org.uk and we will try to feature them in these pages. If the stories here inspire you to try and raise some money then the fundraising manager for your area would be pleased to hear from you. Contact details are on page 3.

REPLICA HELICOPTER IS HIT This model of ‘Anglia Two’ one of our EC135 helicopters, was built by Brett Houghton, pictured here with Jimmy Doherty at the Jimmy’s Farm Science and Nature Festival. Brett is a radio controlled aircraft pilot and joined us at the event to give flying displays of some of his replica helicopters including this one. It was a very successful day and the replica air ambulance was a huge hit. We’re very much looking forward to working with Brett and his colleague Dave at events in the future.

ANY COIN ANY AGE People in Bedfordshire have dug deep to help our Any Coin Any Age campaign across the county. Children at 40 Bedfordshire schools helped gather old or foreign coins and the Houghton Regis branch of Morrisons (pictured) helped publicise the campaign as well as collecting coins. Area Fundraising Manager Kay Marter said: “The response has been truly amazing and with the amount raised, contributors can be proud to say that they have saved a life.”

The campaign from schools had raised almost £2,250 as we went to press and collection points are continuing around the county. Some of the places with collecting boxes are B&Q in both Luton and Bedford, Flitwick Leisure Centre, Marks and Spencer in Bedford and the Council offices in Chicksands as well as several other businesses in the county.

Download ANGLIA LIFT OFF as an app – see page 4.

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THANK YOU...

Many events take place every week somewhere in our region to raise much needed funds for EAAA. It’s simply not possible to mention all of them but here are a few recent activities:

GO-KART GRAND PRIX This year’s EAAA karting Grand Prix built on the success of our inaugural event held last spring with more teams taking part and generous support from many of the businesses who enjoyed the event last year.

Once again it was held at Ellough Park Raceway near Beccles and this year it was generously sponsored by web design and app development firm Innershed from Norwich who also entered two teams in the competition.

The day involved two races with each team having a kart and swapping drivers throughout – reaching speeds of up to 50mph. Winners of the first race were Midwich Ltd and Big Sky A won the second, both companies generously taking part again having supported the day last year.

Area Fundraising Manager Amy Franklin said: “It was a hugely fun day and we were delighted that this year was bigger and better than before with 30 teams taking part helping us to raise over £2,500.”

GOLFERS’ GENEROSITY Once again we’ve had tremendous support from golfers in our region.

Ely City Golf Club has chosen us as its charity of the year for the third time and this is the second consecutive year, with both men’s and ladies’ captains adopting us.

Area Fundraising Manager Chris Donaldson picked up a cheque for a magnificent £8,840 and returned shortly afterwards for the first initiative of the new season, which was a men’s baking competition – with some stunning results as our picture shows.

In Bedfordshire Aspley Sands and Woburn Golf Club chose EAAA as charity of the year and in the 12 months raised more than £4,000.

And our wonderful supporters at Cretingham Golf Club in Suffolk who now display our ‘Proud to Support’ signs on their caddies recently gave us their latest donation of £1,120.

Long-term supporters the Ipswich based band The Martells held another fundraising gig in Kesgrave and donated more than £2,700. Drummer Sandy Sutherland, who was airlifted by us, has now raised nearly £17,000 in total.

The United Services Club in Dunstable has supported EAAA for the last two years, donating more than £7,000.

A diversity day held by the Department of Work and Pensions at its Jobcentre Plus branches across the region has raised over £2,200.

Dereham Young Farmers held a number of events including a parachute jump, cycle ride and car washing to raise more than £5,000.

Philip and Jayne Bradshaw from Flegcroft Farm near Peterborough held another sell out charity concert which raised £2,200 meaning they have now raised £15,000.

Landlady Bev Irvine and her customers at the Lattice Barn in Ipswich have raised more than £4,400 with events ranging from maggot racing to a Burns Night.

Volunteers Val and John Laker held another successful annual dinner at the Constantia Cottage restaurant in West Runton.

East Anglian Motor Auctions generously donated £4,000.

The East Anglian Working Newfoundlands once again held collections at Elveden in the run up to Christmas and raised more than £2,600.

To donate £5 to EAAA please text heli to 70500 LIFT OFF 13

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14 LIFT OFF

RECENT MISSIONS We publish details of as many of our missions as possible on our website and some will also be featured on our social media sites. In March this year we flew 30 night-time missions alone, the highest number after dark in a month since we began flying at night. It’s not possible to mention them all in ‘Anglia Lift Off’ but we hope this page gives an insight into the variety of incidents our crews attend.

If you take pictures of either of our helicopters out and about we are always pleased to receive them and, with permission, endeavour to use them in our magazine or online. Send your pictures to liftoff@eaaa.org.uk

East Harling

© Andrew Thomas Photography

C O V ER S T O R Y

M I S S ION

The crew of Anglia Two were called to an incident in Biggleswade in Bedfordshire to treat a man who had suffered a serious injury.

Professional photographer Andy Thomas lives close to where the helicopter landed and ran to get his camera when he heard Captain Dave Kelly touching down in a nearby field.

Andy had been a photographer in his spare time before he retired after a 30 year career in the Metropolitan Police and had on occasion encountered the London Air Ambulance through his work. Now taking photos professionally, he kindly shared his pictures with us on Facebook and has allowed us to use them here. To see more of Andy’s work please visit www.andytphotography.co.uk Andy said: “I usually take pictures of weddings or portraits such as families and pets so this was something quite different and I’m glad I was there at the right time to see it.

“I was pleased to allow the EAAA to publish my pictures because so many people appreciate and benefit from the work the charity does.”

The patient, a man in his 40s, was treated at the scene by Dr Monojit Choudhury and critical care paramedic Carl Smith before he was taken to Bedford Hospital by the land ambulance crew.

A 12-year-old girl was airlifted to hospital after suffering an injury at school in Norfolk. The girl was treated at the scene by Anglia One’s crew of Dr Pam Chrispin and critical care paramedic Rod Wells. The school later told journalists that the incident had been the result of a ‘complete accident’ and the girl had made a full recovery.

M I S S ION

MISSION Anglia Two landed on Parker’s Piece in Cambridge after being called to a woman who had suffered a cardiac arrest. Working closely with the land ambulance crew, Dr Ed Gold and critical care paramedic Jemma Varela anaesthetised the patient before accompanying her to hospital by road.

MISSION

An inquisitive peacock came to investigate Anglia One when the aircraft landed at its Norfolk home. The crew had been tasked to a man in his 80s and took just seven minutes to reach him. After treatment at the scene the patient was left in the care of an ambulance service paramedic.

Easter Saturday was a very busy day for both our aircraft. Anglia One flew to four different emergencies in the east of our region. Two patients were airlifted to different hospitals and at the other two incidents the crew assisted the road ambulance crews who then took the casualties to hospital. Meanwhile Anglia Two attended one night-time and two day-time incidents including a road collision involving several motorbikes with multiple casualties.

M I S S ION

MISSION

The crew of Anglia Two were called to treat a US Serviceman who had sustained an injury playing rugby in Suffolk. Captain Chris Sherriff landed the aircraft on the pitch and the doctor and critical care paramedic administered treatment to the patient who was then taken to hospital by road.

The crew of Anglia Two assisted at an incident in Peterborough in which a woman in her 40s had been taken ill. They worked with colleagues from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust before the woman was taken to the City’s hospital by road.

LIFT OFF 15

Lottery

WIN UP TO £3000

LOTTERY JACKPOT WINNERS SINCE OUR LAST EDITION

of our the post news ve received in ha year ly st nt La ce . re ay of £3,000 ters of EAAA m has a top prize ar to ye e is lik th ld Regular suppor ch ou whi and w er grand draw ort this received annual summ e level of supp th by ed lm he we were overw d a ticket.

00. As who purchase ize fund of £5,0 offer a total pr thank everyone to and ten le 00 ab £5 d en an be ce again of £1,000 on es iz ve pr ha e ird w th ar d This ye second an prize we have well as the first more for us you could sell el fe u yo if prizes of £50. or 01603 489400 tickets – Contact us on received your t e. or ye t m e no ts m ve so ha u If you send yo books of ticke ow and we will ow how many kn kn us us t t le le d se an ea pl rg.uk lottery@eaaa.o . or email us at re to send them he er w as l el w as e, in this way, eith lik ld you wou le to support us ab s el fe ho w everyone on our behalf.

Many thanks to or selling them ts ke tic ng si by purcha

For full details each week of the EAAA lottery winners and the current accumulator prize please visit our website – www.eaaa.org.uk The results are published there first and as soon as possible after the draw is made. They remain available on the site for approximately one month. If you follow us on Twitter @EastAngliAirAmb we aim to ‘tweet’ when the results are available, as soon as possible after the Friday afternoon draw. In the last quarter the £1,000 jackpot has been won by: Feb 07

Mrs K. Ives

Sudbury, Suffolk

Feb 14

Mr Worland

North Walsham, Norfolk

Feb 21

P. Passmore

Great Cornard, Suffolk

Feb 28

M. Jones

East Tuddenham, Norfolk

Mar 07

Mrs C. Cochrane

Luton

Mar 14

Mr R. Wright

Ludham, Norfolk

Mar 21

Mr R. Harvey

Norwich

Mar 28

Mr R. Bannister

Peterborough

Apr 04

Mr R. Frye

Hickling, Norfolk

Apr 11

Mr & Mrs Howard

Sudbury, Suffolk

Apr 17

Mr D. Taylor

North Walsham, Norfolk

Apr 25

Mr A. Hemming

Brooke, Norfolk

THE ACCUMULATOR PRIZE The accumulator prize has been won just once since our last edition.

This is a special draw made every week with additional numbers added to the system. Each week a total of £500 is added to the prize pot – up to a maximum of £25,000. When the prize is won the accumulator starts again the following week at £500. Everyone who plays our lottery is automatically entered for this draw and has the same chance of winning this as all our other weekly prizes. On February 7 the prize total stood at £2,000 when the lucky winner was Mrs R. Arter from the Fakenham area of Norfolk. As ‘Anglia Lift Off’ went to press at the end of April the accumulator prize was standing at £6,000. Details of how much it has reached each week and whether it has been won or not are posted in the Lottery News section of our website.

Congratulations to all our lottery winners and thanks to all who have chosen to make a donation to the charity following a win. We’d especially like to thank those who have completed a Gift Aid form when making a donation.

This allows us to claim 20% tax back from the Government, if the donor is a UK tax-payer at no extra cost to them. The form is available from our offices or website.

About our lottery

How does it work?

How do I claim my prize?

Supporting the East Anglian Air Ambulance lottery is one of the easiest and most sustainable ways to keep us flying and saving lives. There are 18 main cash prizes including a jackpot of £1,000 which is won every week. We also have an accumulator prize which rises by £500 per week. The maximum it can reach is £25,000 and we have had several of our supporters win significant sums. Everyone who plays the lottery is automatically entered into the accumulator draw.

Once we receive your completed membership application we enter your details onto our lottery system. You’ll be sent a letter and membership card with details of your lucky number. Each Friday the winners are randomly selected from all current paying members.

There is no need make a claim as we automatically send out all the winners’ cheques by 1st class post on Friday afternoons. A list of winners can be found on our website www.eaaa.org.uk.

The results are also announced on Radio Norwich 99.9FM at 9am on Saturday morning. Some local newspapers also print our lottery results.

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LIFT OFF

How much does it cost?

Each ‘chance’ in our lottery costs £1 and you can have more than one ‘chance’ each week if you wish.

LOTTERY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION New Member Details (Please fill in your contact and payment details) Name Address

Postcode

Tel

For cheque payment:

No. of chances per week No. of weeks (min 13)

Mike Burt

Total amount due £

NEW LOTTERY MANAGER Mike Burt has joined EAAA in the role of Lottery Manager.

Mike was previously the Lottery Manager at Norwich City Football Club, where he had worked for 35 years and is also a season ticket holder. His experience there helped them to grow and maintain several lottery schemes in the days before significant television monies.

Mike said: “The opportunity to join such a strong and worthwhile charitable organisation was too good to miss. The EAAA lottery is magnificently supported by the people of the region and efficiently administered by a dedicated team. The supporters of the charity are superb and have certainly taken the cause to heart.”

THANK YOU The East Anglian Air Ambulance Charity is enormously appreciative of the support from our loyal lottery players. Your weekly contribution really does make a difference and has helped to generate millions for the charity since it started. Without your continued support, it would be very difficult for us to maintain the service we currently provide.

However, please don’t forget to let us know if you move house, we send our winning cheques through the post each week so it’s vital that we have an up to date address for our players.

How do I join?

Simply complete the application form on these pages and return it to us at the address printed on the form. All players must be over the age of 16. If you would like to pay by cheque then don’t forget to include this in with your application form. Alternatively if you don’t want to cut out the form or you know several people who might like to join, then it’s now even easier to do so.

We have an ancillary remote license from the Gambling Commission which means we can sign lottery members up via our website (visit the shop section to do so) and over the phone on 01603 489400.

If you are reading this edition of ‘Anglia Lift Off’ because you are already a member of our lottery then when you have finished it, why not pass it on to someone else who might like to find out more about supporting our work in this way.

For direct debit payments: (Please fill in the form below)

Instruction to your Bank or Building Society to pay by Direct Debit

Service User Number

Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society

422746

To: The Manager

Bank/Building Society

Address Postcode Name(s) of Account Holder(s) Branch Sort Code Bank/Building Society Account Number Reference:

Instruction to your Bank or Building Society Please pay East Anglian Air Ambulance Direct Debits from the account detailed in this Instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand that this Instruction may remain with East Anglian Air Ambulance and, if so, details will be passed electronically to my Bank/Building Society.

Signature(s)

Date

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit Instructions for some types of account.

The sum of £ Monthly (£4.34) First payment on

(Minimum payment of £4.34 per chance per month)

Quarterly (£13) /

/

Half-yearly (£26)

Yearly (£52)

and thereafter until further notice.

Please return your completed membership application form (with cheque made payable to Friends of East Anglian Air Ambulance) to: Friends of East Anglian Air Ambulance, Hangar E, Norwich Airport, Gambling Close, Norwich NR6 6EG Members must be aged 16 years or over, please tick this box to confirm Each chance costs £1 per week. All the data we hold is gathered and managed in strict accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). We will not disclose any information supplied by you to any third party. We may contact you occasionally with information about other aspects of our work. If you would prefer not to receive these mailings please tick this box

Issue 35

LIFT OFF

17

FUNDRAISING RUNWAY RUN The annual EAAA Runway Run takes place this year on Sunday 14 September with a route of 10k as well as the original 5k – both of which are open to runners and walkers.

This year sees some exciting new developments – most significantly a new location. We have been given access to Sculthorpe Airfield near Fakenham for the 2014 event. RAF Sculthorpe was originally built during the Second World War and is now used as a military training facility. We are very grateful to the MoD for allowing us access for this fundraising event and hope that the fact that public access to the airfield is usually limited will encourage a big field.

The other major change is that the run will be held in the morning. Our previous Runway Run events have always taken place at the end of the day but this year there will be a 10.30am start for both races. As ever, there will be live music and entertainment for all the family as well as on site catering.

While we hope a number of serious runners will turn up to race at both distances on what promises to be a fast and flat course we very much encourage fun-runners, joggers and walkers to take part in either run. The 10k course is equivalent to just over six miles.

There will be goody bags and medals for all the finishers and runners are also asked to consider raising sponsorship for EAAA as the entry fees have to cover the costs involved in staging the event.

To register for the event please visit www.chiptiminguk.co.uk. Entry to the race costs £10 if the participant raises a minimum sponsorship total of £50 or £25 if the participant does not wish to raise sponsorship. The entry fee is £5 for participants aged 5 -17 or over 65. More details about the event are also available on our website.

CYCLING CHALLENGE Three cycling events this summer are raising funds for EAAA. The Reepham Super Series from Cycle Sportives UK offers a non-competitive cycling event allowing participants to follow a 35 or 70 mile route through the Norfolk countryside starting at Whitwell and Reepham Station. The first event was on 11 May with the other two taking place on 22 June and 21 September. There is a food stop halfway round at Holt Community Centre, along with event photography, mechanical and medical support. At the end of the ride there is a goody bag and a cycling drinks bottle. At Whitwell Station during the day there are family events along with the steam engines as the event also supports the station’s restoration appeal.

Cycle Sportives has been raising money for EAAA throughout the winter through its reliability rides and has set a fundraising target for the year of £2,500.

To find out more or take part in one of the Reepham Sportives please visit www.cyclesportivesuk.co.uk.

THANKS Our wonderful supporter and South Cambridgeshire volunteer Dot Bentley Wall has undertaken a second parachute jump in aid of EAAA. Dot did her first jump a few years ago and this time raised more than £600.

Fireman Craig Ross who lives near Bury St Edmunds raised sponsorship when he ran the Adidas Half Marathon at Silverstone in March. His supporters helped him raise more than £640.

We are very grateful to Balfour Beatty for choosing EAAA as the charity to benefit from a 5k run or walk along the new stretch of the A11 at Elveden.

The event was held for local residents before the road opened to traffic and it raised more than £300.

More than £2,500 was raised by supporters Megan Evans and Lucy Cozens who undertook a cycle ride across Vietnam to Cambodia – a distance of 450km.

They decided to raise money for EAAA because Megan’s father was treated by our clinicians after being injured in a car accident a few years ago.

18 LIFT OFF

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Find us on

VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON A total of 14 runners supported EAAA as they took part in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon in April. As ‘Anglia Lift Off’ went to press they had raised more than £25,000 and the total was still rising. Six runners had Golden Bond places – guaranteed charity places with a set fundraising target. Our other runners generously used their own ballot or club places to raise as much as they could. Several of them had a personal connection to the charity and had witnessed the work of the air ambulance first hand.

If you’d like to run, jog or walk to raise money for EAAA then please have a look at page 18 for news of our annual Runway Run which offers slightly less daunting distances of 5k and 10k.

ROD WELLS EAAA Critical Care Paramedic Rod Wells completed the marathon in 5’01’27. He said it was very rewarding to experience the whole occasion and be able to raise money for the organisation he works for. Rod flies missions on both Anglia One and Anglia Two as well as being a volunteer for both the Gorleston Lifeboat and the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service.

LOUISA CHAMBERLAIN Louisa was the fastest of the EAAA Golden Bond runners with a time of 3’29’18. She said: “Running the London Marathon for the East Anglian Air Ambulance was a truly rewarding experience. It was very important to me that the charity I would run for was one that has, or could, feature at some point in my life. I have ridden horses since I was a young child and hope to continue doing so for the rest of my life. This has meant that I have and will continue to come across the EAAA on many occasions. Whilst, so far, I have been fortunate enough not to have need of the air ambulance, I have friends whose lives have been dependent on the service they provide and who, without their help, possibly would not even be with us today. For these reasons the EAAA was an obvious choice as my charity for the London Marathon.

“The atmosphere was fantastic and it was a massive help having my name printed on my t-shirt and hearing “come on Louisa/Lou/ LouisE” every few yards or so. I ignorantly thought that I would stand out in bright pink, but such an array of colours and amazing fancy dress meant that I was actually quite hard to pick out. From the point at which Mo ran past me in the opposite direction I started to struggle and the feeling of relief when I finally crossed the finish line, and could tell my legs that they could now stop moving, surpassed all other feelings. I do not think the realisation of having run it in 3 hours 29 minutes really hit home until I was lying in bed that evening and the excitement of the big event had died down.”

Rod’s fundraising has already exceeded £2,200 and he was especially grateful to a number of people and organisations who helped him including retired ambulance personnel Dave and Ruth Waller and Mrs Bessie Head from Suffolk who donated £543 raised through her 100th birthday celebrations.

Rod Wells 20 LIFT OFF

Louisa Chamberlain

Bryan Baxter

and Mike Green

Paul Millar

James Smy th

BRYAN BAXTER

MIKE GREEN

Auctioneer Bryan, from Norwich, completed the marathon in 5’29’32. Bryan said although his time was a little slower than he had hoped for, he had loved every minute of the race.

However a couple of weeks after the event, when thanking his supporters via Twitter he admitted that the marathon had cost him ‘several toenails.’ Bryan had raised more than £2,700 as we went to press.

Mike, pictured above on the left with fellow runner Paul Millar, has raised over £1,000 for EAAA. He had a place in the marathon through the ballot but wanted to help a charity local to people in Suffolk and East Anglia. Mike met up with the EAAA team at the finish but having completed the marathon in a time of 4’48’46 he had to ‘hobble off’ to get back to Liverpool Street station.

PAUL MILLAR

JAMES LUSHER

KARL HARRIS

Ipswich Building Society branch manager Paul Millar was close to his £2,000 target after finishing the marathon with ‘sunburn and multi-coloured toenails.’ His time was 4’52’09.

James, from Cambridgeshire, used his ballot place to support EAAA and finished in a fantastic 3’17’15. He has raised hundreds of pounds for the charity.

Rugby player Karl from Woodbridge completed the marathon in 4’14’04. Karl was supporting EAAA through a ballot place after a young player at his club was treated by our crew. He was just a few pounds short of his £2,000 target as we went to print.

JAMES SMYTH James bravely completed the marathon in agony, having suffered a knee injury in training. Despite this he finished in a respectable 5’03’09 and had an emotional reunion with the EAAA team at the end. He ran in memory of his brother-in-law David who was airlifted by our crew.

LYNN WHITTINGSTALL Lynn, from Framlingham, has raised hundreds of pounds for EAAA with fundraising events and an online sponsorship page. She completed the 26.2 miles in 5’43’04. Lynn was running with a friend of hers after they had supported each other through training. Lynn’s friend hit ‘the wall’ 16 miles into the marathon and struggled for the final ten miles but Lynn stayed with her to accompany her to the finish. She said: “We’ve travelled this journey together, we stayed together and we got through.”

TIFFANY LASKEY AND AARON ENGLISH Cousins Tiffany and Aaron completed the marathon together in a time of 5’08’35. Tiffany from Norwich said: “It was an amazing day and I loved every minute of it.” The cousins chose to support EAAA after friends were involved in a serious road accident. Although one didn’t survive, Tiffany said another’s life was saved because of the air ambulance.

Tiffany has raised hundreds of pounds through her own fundraising and because she works for Virgin Money, which sponsors the London Marathon she will receive an additional £500 for her charity from the Northern Rock Foundation.

Tiffany Laskey and Aaron English

Karl Harris

Also running for EAAA with their own places were Nigel Death who took on the challenge with his son Harrison who had a place in the under 13s 5k mini marathon. Father and son have raised hundreds of pounds to be shared between EAAA and The Sick Children’s Trust.

Nigel finished in 5’08’57. Nick Bedford also supported EAAA and finished the marathon in 5’15’43. And Marcus Nichols raised over £800 through online sponsorship, completing the marathon in 4’19’23.

Meanwhile on July 13 the British London 10k – another iconic event in the capital – will also have a number of participants raising funds for EAAA. We are very grateful to Mick Money and his sons Curtis and Christian all from Norfolk who are running in memory of Mick’s brother who was a paramedic in the region’s ambulance service. Brothers Dean and Lee Shuttleworth are taking part after their father was airlifted following a serious accident.

Friends Laura Abbott and Amy Davies have also chosen to support EAAA and we are grateful to all of them for their efforts.

LIFT OFF 21

HOW TO HELP US

NEVER TOO EARLY TO PLAN

One in four of the missions we fly is funded as a result of a gift left to us in a will. Leaving a gift in your will can make a life-changing difference to people in need of accident and emergency medical treatment throughout East Anglia. It’s never too early to think of making a will but we do understand that for many people the thought of making or even changing an existing will can be very daunting.

If you have received this edition of ‘Anglia Lift Off’ in the post you will have found enclosed with it a codicil form. You may have already mentioned EAAA in your will and if that is the case then thank you. Of course we understand your will is personal and would never ask you to disclose decisions you make about leaving a legacy, but if you would like to inform us that you have done so it does allow us to thank you personally.

Our Development Officer Cerys Shepherd recently added a codicil to her will, but as she recalled, it was on her father’s advice that she first made a will at all. Cerys said: “When my daughter was born my father pressed home to me the need to write a will, it hadn’t been something that I had considered before talking to him. He pointed out how important it was for me to be able to leave clear instructions not only about what I was leaving, but what I wanted to happen to her in the event of my death.

“I seriously considered what would be the best for my daughter before going ahead. Writing the will was an easy process and it sat in a box of important documentation virtually forgotten about for some time.”

Cerys added that although she has made changes to her will, mainly to include her two subsequent daughters it wasn’t until she attended a recent information session about legacies and wills that she realised she wanted to add a codicil to include her new grandson Jacob. She said: “It was a very simple process that took less than an hour. It gives me peace of mind knowing that in the event of my death the people I love the most wont have to worry about dealing with what I leave behind.”

It’s not a legal requirement to consult a solicitor when making or amending a will but we would strongly recommend anyone considering it to do so.

If you would like more information about leaving a legacy please visit the ‘support’ section of our website, email info@eaaa.org.uk or see page 3 for other contact details.

HELP US SAVE LIVES

There are many ways in which you can support us, please help by ticking the boxes which interest you and completing your contact details.

Then simply return the form to: East Anglian Air Ambulance, Hangar E, Gambling Close, Norwich Airport, Norwich NR6 6EG or email the area(s) which interests you with your contact details to: info@eaaa.org.uk or telephone: 08450 669 999 For more information about East Anglian Air Ambulance and for details of fundraising events in your area, please visit www.eaaa.org.uk

Thank you for your support

✃

Name Address Postcode Tel

Email

I’d like to make a donation and enclose a sum of £

I’d like information to help me raise money for EAAA

I’d like to find out about setting up a regular donation

I’d like information on how to leave a legacy

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I’d like to receive details about corporate sponsorship

Add 20p to every £1 you donate at no extra cost to you by ticking this box and signing below. This will enable us to claim GiftAid. I am a UK taxpayer and would like the East Anglian Air Ambulance to reclaim the tax on the enclosed gift and all gifts of money that I have made in the past 4 years and all future gifts of money that I make from the date of this declaration.

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All the data is gathered and managed in strict accordance with the Data Protection Act (1998). We will not disclose any information supplied by you to any third party.

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TOTAL COVER PLUS We have a technologically advanced hair system that is specifically designed to suit your life and to give you a full head of real hair.

Also available in London and Essex, for Essex enquiries please telephone Pierre and James Salon on 0800 122 3043.

Looking Good Feeling Better 01787 881146

www.totalcoverplus.co.uk