Steve,

 

Firstly thank you very much for your prize for the BLESMA charity fishing, it has been a great success. Largely thanks to the generosity of companies and individuals such as your good self.

 

Mr. Paul Bell was the lucky winner of your coveted prize which was presented to him by Zyg at Anglers Paradise in Devon. It is a little too early to be able to give out exact figures of the amount raised for the charity, needless to say it is in the thousands.

 

I am certain that Paul will contact you in due course to arrange his day out fishing, I know that he is himself a war veteran and a complete gentleman. he has only taken up fishing in the past few months and has become totally "Hooked".

 

The prize was handed  out on the 30th May 2011 bank holiday, and as requested sending  you the date and name of the lucky winner.

 

We are hoping to run a similar event next year perhaps with a little more co-operation from the fisheries to increase the number of anglers. As we found at some venues we had poor attendances which I think was a combination of lack of experience from ourselves and lack of enthusiasm from the venue owners.

 

Lessons learnt from this year will undoubtedly make this an annual event that will continue to grow and support troops who have lost limbs or multiple limbs. The BLESMA area manager told us that in the south west alone we have over 200 servicemen and women who have lost limbs. Something as a serving member had no idea of the sheer numbers of amputees.

 

Steve once again many many thanks for you so very much for your support it has been greatly appreciated.

 

Kindest regards

 

Billy Earle

Press Release

2 November 2010

Air Ambulance Shoot goes with a Bang!

The August Bank Holiday weekend saw the first annual fundraising shoot organised by the Hornet Shooting Ground in aid of the Berks, Oxon and Bucks Air Ambulance (BOBAA).

Kevin Gray of Hornet Shooting Ground organised the FITASC clay shooting event at Middle Farm in Muswell Hill, Brill to help raise funds for the local Air Ambulance.  When asked why they had chosen to support the Air Ambulance he said, “The Air Ambulance should be close to the hearts of all people as the service they provide, is second to none. To me, as someone who is based in the countryside it is a vital service as it can reach accidents quickly in remote and inaccessible places.”

Francis Stone, the owner of Middle Farm, generously donated the cost of renting the land for the shoot back to the Hornet Shooting Ground so it could be added to the funds raised for BOBAA. 

The event was well attended and raised a fantastic £2,131.60 which equates to the average cost of a call out for the Air Ambulance.  Kevin Gray was invited along to RAF Benson, the base for the helicopter, to meet the crew and understand how the donation will help.

As well as making the event an annual fundraiser, Hornet Shooting Ground is also helping to raise further awareness for the BOBAA by hosting one of the charity’s 15ft display boards.

 Press contact

Michelle Hewitt

Fundraising Co-ordinator

Tel: 0300 999 0135

Mob: 07917 054262

About the Berks, Oxon and Bucks Air Ambulance (BOBAA)

1. BOBAA, launched in June 1999, provides a life saving service for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

 

2. The Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust is a charity which receives no funding from central Government or the National Lottery, but relies entirely on sponsorship, donations and fundraising activities to meet the annual running costs of BOBAA.

 

3. The Air Ambulance is a Eurocopter EC135 based at RAF Benson, South Oxfordshire.  Crewed by one pilot and two paramedics, and supported on a regular basis by a small team of doctors.  The aircraft attends both trauma and medical emergencies.

 

4. The helicopter is operated in daylight hours and is on call seven days a week. The value of the Air Ambulance is in being able to bring the benefits of rapid Paramedic intervention to a medical situation in order to give primary care and then airlift patients, if required, to the most appropriate hospital within the Golden Hour.

 

5. The helicopter has flown a total of over 12,000 missions since its inception.

 

6. Further information is available by visiting www.tvacaa.org