Staff at Menter a Busnes (MaB) are turning their fundraising talents towards supporting the Wales Air Ambulance Charity’s life-saving services.
Each year the independent economic development company adopts a charity to support for 12 months. In 2020 the charity was Hope House – Tŷ Gobaith and Tŷ Hafan children’s hospices.
Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the MaB team raised £8,169.35 (including GiftAid) achieved by – among other things – walking the accumulative length of the Wales Coastal Path (870 miles) by Christmas Eve.
In 2021 MaB will be raising funds for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
MaB Chief Executive, Alun Jones, said, “Choosing what Charity MaB supports is very much down to our team, and it is often a choice prompted by personal experience. As a company with staff members throughout Wales – many of whom are based in rural locations – we all know how vital a service the Wales Air Ambulance Charity provides. We are proud to support the Charity in its life-saving work.”
Since it launched on St David’s Day 2001, the Wales Air Ambulance Charity has undertaken nearly 38,000 missions and began operating a 24-hour service on December 1st, 2020.
Each mission can cost an average of between £1,500 to £3,000, and the Charity has seen the annual cost of running the operation increase from £6.5 million to £8.5 million.
The largest Charity of its kind in the UK, there are four Air Ambulances in Wales, each with Critical Care teams on board. Three are three based at Welshpool, Caernarfon and Llanelli, with the Children’s Air Ambulance based at Cardiff Heliport.
Wales Air Ambulance Charity prides itself on being ‘A charity in Wales for the people of Wales/ Elusen yng Nghymru i bobl Cymru’.
The ‘hospital is brought to the patient’ through its specialist team’s Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS Wales). The medics onboard can perform major procedures at accident and trauma scenes before transferring the patient to hospital.
Alwyn Jones, Community Fund Raising Coordinator for Wales Air Ambulance Charity, said, “On behalf of Wales Air Ambulance I wish to convey our warmest thanks to Menter a Busnes for thinking of and choosing us as their Charity of the Year. I would also like to wish you all well on your fundraising efforts during this time.”
