General

Warrington based company SorryMate.com have pledged over £1,000 per year to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to help keep them saving lives of motorcyclists across the region.

Last year the Yorkshire Air Ambulance responded to 1,523 incidents, 113 of which were motorcycle accidents.

SorryMate offers free legal advice to bikers in need of assistance on a no win, no fee basis. The company is run by qualified solicitors who are also bikers themselves.

SorryMate pride themselves on giving back to charities, particularly air ambulances who serve many of their clients they and have decided this year to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance by handing them a cheque for an initial £1,000 and pledging £100 a month to help the life-saving service.

Fergus Dalgarno, founder of sorrymate.com, said: “The air ambulance save many lives each month, many of whom are bikers. Over the years their skills have grown so that now they are considered in many areas to be a mobile Accident and Emergency Unit, able to perform many life-saving skills at the scene of an accidents.”

Speaking of why they chose to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Fergus said: “People should support the air ambulance for the same reason they support the NHS, because they are an integral part of healthcare, looking after everyone. They only difference is air ambulances is are not government funded.”

Rob Scott, East Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to thank SorryMate for their support over the years and for their very generous donation.  It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and donations from companies such as SorryMate are the lifeblood of our charity.”

For more information please contact Yorkshire Air PR and Communications Officer, Jessica McDonnell on j.mcdonnell@yaa.org.uk or 01422 237900/ 07384517193

Equestrian event organisers, Rockwood Events, have raised over £10,000 for rapid response charity, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Rockwood Events is an equestrian events company from Huddersfield that organises horse shows around Yorkshire for charity.

The organisers hosted a Hunter Trial and an XC Open Day which took place on Sunday 6^th and Sunday 13^th September at High Hoyland in South Yorkshire, and hired the jumps in their field at Emley Moor.

Over the space of three months, the Rockwood Events company raised an incredible £10,653 for the air ambulance charity.

Tessa Downs, Rockwood Events organiser, said: “The response when I said I was doing something for the air ambulance was unbelievable. I’m shocked and we’re quite astonished by how much we raised. We raised £7,000 from the two weekends at High Hoyland and an extra £3,000 from the field at home.”

Speaking of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Tessa said: “I’ve had a nasty horse riding incident and the NHS have been incredible, these events were a way of giving back to the air ambulance who do so much for horse riders like myself. Without the air ambulance, there would be a lot of people who wouldn’t be here today. The Charity is there for everyone.”

Laura Lawton, South Yorkshire Community Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Rockwood Events for organising their shows and raising an incredible £10,673 for the YAA.

This year, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance has lost approximately £420,000 in fundraising income due to the pandemic. It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and this incredible donation will help greatly towards the vital funding of our service.”

For more information please contact Yorkshire Air PR and Communications Officer, Jessica McDonnell on j.mcdonnell@yaa.org.uk or 01422 237900/ 07384517193

Jean Dixon, 84 from Scarborough has been volunteering for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance for more than 17 years and has raised more than £750,000 through running the air ambulance’s only dedicated charity shop at the Scarborough Market vaults and through public speaking.

Jean has been running businesses from Scarborough Market Hall for over 57 years and in 2004, shortly after her retirement, she decided to take on an empty stall and raise money for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance as a volunteer.  She started off in the original market hall with one small stall, and over the years expanded to being a considerable part of the old market hall.  Then after the market hall refurbishment in 2017, Jean and her team relocated downstairs to the market vaults where they’ve been since.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance shop now consists of two vaults on the lower ground floor of Scarborough Market, with a dedicated clothing shop selling high-quality fashion donated by dress agencies. Over the last 17 years, with help from her dedicated volunteer team through attending various events, as well as being a public speaker for the Charity, Jean has helped raise over £750,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Jean was nominated for the award by Jim Goodman, a regular customer of the Scarborough Market vaults charity store, after him seeing Jean’s work for the Charity first hand.

Speaking of her award, Jean Dixon, said: “I’m over the moon, I can’t believe it all. It has been such a surprise over the weekend. I didn’t set out to do anything like this and not many people knew who the Yorkshire Air Ambulance were when I started.

I said to myself when I joined the air ambulance that I’d like to raise over £1 million pounds and my son said I was a little bit ambitious, but we’re now more than three quarters of the way there. I just hope I live long enough to make the other quarter of a million.”

Peter Sunderland Chairman of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “On behalf of everyone from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, we would like to a say well done to Jean on receiving her British Empire Medal and a huge thank you for her continued support and dedication towards the Charity. Jean is a valued member of our volunteering team and a firm part of the YAA family. It is an honour to have her as part of our team and we cannot praise her enough for all her work over the years.”

The YAA provides a lifesaving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire. It costs £12,000 every single day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air.

For more information please contact Yorkshire Air PR and Communications Officer, Jessica McDonnell on j.mcdonnell@yaa.org.uk or 01422 237900/ 07384517193

Seven year old Emily from Morley, West Yorkshire has been honoured with a Special Achievement Award by the Mayor of Morley for her fundraising efforts.

The award was handed to Emily on 10^th September 2020 by the Mayor of Morley Councillor Andrew Hutchison at the Morley Town Hall, in recognition of her fundraising work for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Emily cycled 152.5km during lockdown to raise funds for the rapid response charity and raised an impressive £960.

The challenge was completed on her exercise bike and by doing laps around the local community with her mum, dad and grandad.

Emily’s mum, Nicola England-Hall, said:” Her original target was 50km, but she ended up doing 50km in the first week, so we put it up to 100km and then 150km.”

Emily was inspired by her cousin who is also very altruistic and recently completed a 5k run for Leeds Cares and raised £1,000.

Speaking of why they chose the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Nicola said: “We were looking for local charities to promote and she had heard of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance because of the helicopter flying over our house. She gets so excited by the helicopter.”

Not only did Emily raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, she also held a raffle with the help of her mum, for Wakefield Hospice and raised £450.

“I contacted a lot of companies who weren’t working due to the pandemic such as bakers and beauticians and asked them if they would like to donate a prize because she’s raising money for Wakefield Hospice. I expected 10 prizes, but we ended up with 39”, said Nicola.

As well as supporting the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Wakefield Hospice, a few years ago Emily also did a reverse advent calendar and donated a bag full of items to a charity for the homeless in Wakefield.

“She is inspired by the people around her and always wants to do something for charity”, said Nicola.

Helen Berriman, West Yorkshire Community Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to Emily for her award. Emily is such a bright young girl and it’s great to see the younger generation inspired to fundraise.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and the money raised by Emily will help tremendously towards the vital funding of our service.”

For more information please contact Yorkshire Air PR and Communications Officer, Jessica McDonnell on j.mcdonnell@yaa.org.uk or 01422 237900/ 07384517193

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) has received several phone calls to the Charity HQ recently regarding unsolicited ‘door knockers’ operating in the North and West Yorkshire regions claiming to be from the ‘Air Ambulance’. We have also been notified of this by North Yorkshire Police.

We would like to take this opportunity to clarify our stance on this and the way in which we do and do not operate. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance would never send any staff member or volunteer door knocking or asking you to sign up to a lottery or make a regular donation to the Charity. This kind of activity is something that goes against our fundraising ethics and something we have never done, nor do we have any plans to do so.

If you have had someone knocking at your door claiming to be from an ‘air ambulance’ and would like to make us aware or discuss your concerns, please feel free to call charity HQ on 01422 237900.  Whilst this would not have been us who has knocked on your door, we may be able to point you in the direction of someone who can help.

Helen Callear, Director of Fundraising (North and East) for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We understand that now is an incredibly difficult time for many charities across the region, desperately trying to plug a funding shortfall, but the Yorkshire Air Ambulance would never condone door knocking or cold calling or pestering for donations.

We would urge all of our supporters to be extra vigilant and would like to thank everyone for their continued support.”

To find out more about the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and how we fundraise, please visit: https://www.yorkshireairambulance.org.uk/about/how-we-are-funded/

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) are delighted to announce that Jonathan Binnie has joined the charity as their new Line Pilot.

The YAA provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service 365 days a year to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire and now employs seven pilots to fly their two H-145 helicopters.

Jonathan, who currently lives in Lancashire, commenced his new role in August 2020 following a varied flying career, most recently having worked in the Shetland Islands.

Previously Jonathan has worked for Oil and Gas support in the North Sea, Police Air Support, Coastguard Search and Rescue, as well as the Scottish Air Ambulance and the Northern Lighthouse Board.

Speaking of what drew him to the YAA, Jonathan said: “Yorkshire is a great patch to fly in, from the coast to the Yorkshire Dales, with a lot of built up areas in between. It’s a varied operation to work on.”

He continued: “I’m looking forward to flying the Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s H-145s. Offshore flying is very much flying in a straight line, out and back. It is challenging flying in tough weather conditions, but it is also very repetitive. I’m looking forward to doing something where every trip is different and you all have to work together to get the best results for the patient.”

YAA is an independent charity needing to raise £12,000 per day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances in the air and maintained.  This is equivalent to £4.4 million each year. Last year, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance responded to 1,523 incidents and treated 1,149 patients.

An army of volunteers across Yorkshire have helped to create over 10,000 origami angels during lockdown, to be exhibited at Ripon Cathedral for their Wing and a Prayer project, raising vital funds for the Cathedral and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA).

The Wing and a Prayer project which was launched in May this year, asked people to donate ‘an angel’ to be placed inside the cathedral in honour of key workers and those who are sacrificing so much to keep the country safe during the pandemic.

Church goers, school children and volunteers from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance hand folded the 10,000 angels, which were hoisted by 24 volunteers in a huge net 50 feet above the Nave of the cathedral.

Since the launch, the project has raised an impressive £130,000 for both Ripon Cathedral and the YAA. The money raised will be used to offset the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on cathedral visitor donations and YAA fundraising events– sources of income on which the Cathedral and the Yorkshire Air Ambulance rely.

The project opened for the first time to the general public on Saturday 1^st August, welcoming an impressive 500 visitors over the first weekend.

Linda Stead, North Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “This is a project very close to our charity’s heart and with event cancellations and fundraising activities on hold, YAA needs all the support we can get to keep both of our helicopters in the air and flying across the region.

We have been overwhelmed by the support the Wing and a Prayer project has received over the last few months and the money raised will help tremendously towards the vital funding of our service. We would like to thank everyone who has donated to the project and Ripon Cathedral for their continued support. We would also like to thank all of the volunteers who help fold the angels.”

The free exhibition is open every day until the 29^th September following a special service of thanksgiving on Sunday 27^th September, the feast of St Michael and All Angels.

Read more about the angels at Ripon Cathedral HERE.

The North Yorkshire Moors Moorland Organisation (NYMMO) have surpassed their £25,000 fundraising milestone for the life-saving rapid response charity, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) serves 5 million people across Yorkshire and carries out over 1,500 missions every year. The Charity operates two, state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters and needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep saving lives.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance has been the main beneficiary of the North Yorkshire Moors Moorland Organisation’s charity events since it was founded in December 2015.

The group has now raised £25,805.05 through a variety of events such as merchandise sales, raffles and sweepstakes. They have also organised auctions where they have teamed up with local businesses as well as arranging shoot days with local farmers.

Tina Brough, coordinator of NYMMO, said: “Each year we discuss where the proceeds of our fundraising efforts should go to and each year it’s a unanimous decision that the Yorkshire Air Ambulance receives the money as it is such a vital service for our rural areas. The money raised is a real team effort and shows just how good our rural communities are.”

Lin Stead, North Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to thank the NYMMO for their continued support and generosity over the last five years, to raise £25,805.05 is such an incredible achievement.

Organisations like NYMMO are the life-blood of our charity and the money raised will help greatly towards the vital funding of our service enabling us to continue saving lives across the region, particularly in the North Yorkshire countryside where journey times to hospital are longer and our service is vital to local communities.”

The Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate, Councillor Stuart Martin MBE has presented the Yorkshire Air Ambulance with £10,000 after nominating the life-saving charity as the Mayor’s ‘Charity of the Year’ for the mayoral year 2019-2020

The money was raised through a variety of events and fundraising activities, including a Black Tie dinner at Grantley Hall, a Service of Remembrance at Ripon Cathedral and a Carol Concert at the Royal Hall in Harrogate.

The cheque presentation took place at Grantley Hall who hosted the Black Tie Dinner and in attendance were Mayor Stuart Martin and his wife April Martin, Valeria Sykes owner of Grantley Hall, Helen Callear Director of Fundraising (North and East) and Linda Stead, North Regional Fundraiser both from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The Mayor of the Borough of Harrogate, Councillor Stuart Martin MBE, said: “I’m delighted to have been able to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and will continue to do so in these uncertain times. I would like to pass my thanks and gratitude to everyone who has supported my fundraising efforts over this past year.”

Linda Stead, North Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to thank the Mayor and Mayoress, Stuart and April, for their continued support and generosity over the last year and to everyone who has attended and supported their events.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and the money raised will help greatly towards our daily funding and will enable us to continue saving lives across the region, especially in rural areas such as Harrogate and North Yorkshire where journey times to hospital are longer, and our service is so very vital to the smaller communities which we serve.”

Following the easing of lock down restrictions, the YAA fundraising team have worked with a professional safety company to carefully consider their return to fundraising activities with minimum risk to employees, volunteers, donors and the general public.

The YAA now have supporting Covid-19 specific risk assessments. These have been designed and implemented to follow government guidelines and are reviewed weekly and communicated to the teams.

If anyone would like to learn more about the YAA’s return to fundraising activities, please email info@yaa.org.uk and we will be happy to supply more details.

Masham based business, I’Anson Brothers have signed a further three year sponsorship deal with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which will bring their support total to over £100,000.

I’Anson Brothers Ltd is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of animal feed based in Yorkshire. They are a family run business, and have been serving farmers nationwide since 1900.

I’Ansons have been waving the Yorkshire Air Ambulance flag by having the charity’s branding on their fleet of vehicles and since 2016 , they have also pledged over £60,000 from their upgraded energy saving lighting system to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to help purchase their vital Night Vision Goggles, enabling the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to extend their flying hours.

The company has also raised money through renting out their distribution yard to television production crews and the Tour de Yorkshire, and by taking part in various funding raising activities, such as the Great North Run and Total Warrior.

Their extensive fundraising led I’Ansons to win one of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Corporate Supporter Awards in 2018 at the charity’s Annual Recognition Awards and their logo features on both YAA aircraft.

Katie Collinson, Corporate and Partnerships Manager for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “The support we receive from local businesses are the lifeblood of our charity and we would like to take this opportunity to thank I’Ansons for their continuous support and generosity.

The support they have provided has helped greatly towards the vital funding of our service and will help us continue saving lives across the region, particularly in rural North Yorkshire where journey times to hospital are longer, and our service is so very vital to the farming communities which we serve.”

Chris I’Anson, Managing Director of I’Anson Bros Ltd, said: “We are a rural business based in the heart of the Dales supplying customers across the North of England. These can often be remote areas with testing terrain and difficult access. When accidents happen the speed of getting casualties to hospital can be critical in determining the outcome so the service the YAA provides is vital to the entire rural community. We are delighted to be able to help it to continue to do so.”

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance provides a life-saving rapid response emergency service 365 days a year to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire. They need to raise £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances in the air and maintained.

A motorcyclist from Bedale who sustained serious injuries after colliding with a tractor is set to appear on Helicopter ER.

Steven Caygill was an experienced motorcyclist and he had just saved up to purchase some new protective leathers.

On 6th May 2019 Steven set off for a bike ride when five miles down the road from his home, he collided with a tractor whilst doing 50mph.

“I was out for my first ride of the season. It was a nice morning on the bank holiday and I thought I would just go out for an hour to get used to the bike again after it had been put away for the winter”, said Steven.

He continued: “I set off out of Bedale towards Northallerton and a tractor, with a slurry tanker attached, pulled out of a crossroads in front of me. I tried to take evasive action and swerve to avoid it, but we ended up crashing into each other.”

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance responded to the incident and after assessing Steven, their Critical Care Team suspected a serious pelvic injury. He was flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesborough.

Tests revealed that Steven had broken three bones in his left hand, broken two teeth, fractured his ribs and smashed his pelvis. He was in hospital for nine days, had surgery to fix his pelvis and was left temporarily in a wheelchair.

Steven was left unable to work for six months and still endures daily pain. The incident has made him think twice about getting back on a motorbike.

“My wife and daughter came down to see me at the accident and my daughter said to my wife, she didn’t think she would see her dad again, so that will probably deter me from getting another bike”, said Steven.

Speaking of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, he said: “Everybody did a fantastic job and I cannot thank them enough.”

The episode, which airs at 10pm on Channel Really on 13^th July 2020 also features a child knocked down in Wakefield and a trawler incident in Bridlington.

Helicopter ER is made by York-based Air TV who have won five Royal Television Society awards for their work on the compelling series.  You can catch up on any missed episodes for free on D Play: https://www.dplay.co.uk/show/helicopter-er

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) serves 5million people across Yorkshire and carries out over 1,500 missions every year. The charity operates two, state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters and needs to raise £12,000 every day to keep saving lives.