Residents’ charity fund off to a flyer
Residents at Windsor Housing’s Manor Farm Sheltered Housing scheme were delighted to present a cheque for £1,000 to the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance service (TVACAA). The residents raised the money by holding coffee mornings for local residents, selling raffle tickets and holding Bring & Buy sales over the course of the year.
Each year, residents of the 55 self contained apartments on Manor Farm Close in Dedworth decide on a charity that they will adopt for the year. Whereas other sheltered schemes may only raise money for their own use, these residents selflessly donate all money they raise to a different nominated charity each year.
Kathy Lee, a Manor Farm resident said, “We’re a small community and it’s a good opportunity to all get together and socialise whilst raising money for a good cause. We know the money we raised is just a drop in the ocean for them but it’s a help and hopefully might raise some awareness of this vital charity.”
The Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance celebrated its 10th Anniversary in mid June and has flown its 11,000th mission last week following an emergency air lift from Welford, near Newbury to the Great Western Hospital in Swindon.
Collectively, the air ambulance service is the busiest voluntary emergency service in the country and is on call seven days a week, 365 days a year. The red and yellow liveried EC135 helicopter, based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, can be airborne within three minutes and can land in an area of half the size of a tennis court.
Although the TVACAA generally operates across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, there are no boundaries and the crews are frequently called out to attend emergencies in neighbouring counties when required.
The average running costs are £165,000 a month, meaning each mission costs over £1,200. The TVACAA require £2 million a year to operate their seven day service and receive no funding from Central Government or the National Lottery so are dependant on donations and fundraising of generous members of the public, like the Manor Farm residents.
TVACAA's Chairman, Colin Lee MBE, said: "It has been quite a month for everyone involved with the Air Ambulance but we have been able to use these landmark occasions to good effect by establishing ever stronger links with the community and reinforcing our fundraising message of ‘We rely on you, so you can rely on us'. In these recessionary times we must all work harder to raise the £2million we need each year to keep our helicopter flying."
Manor Farm residents welcome any members of the local community to attend their coffee mornings and help raise more money for deserving charities, every Wednesday from 10am in Manor Farm Close, Dedworth.
