Help turn Wiltshire yellow and green to support your local air ambulance

Wiltshire Air Ambulance is calling on people to show their support by turning the county yellow and green this September.

The charity is asking people, community groups, schools, colleges and businesses to do something fun during National Air Ambulance Week (9-15 September) by incorporating the colours yellow and green.

Kenresa Stratford, events coordinator at Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said: “We’ve chosen a yellow and green theme for Air Ambulance Week to match the colours of our Bell 429 helicopter and Rapid Response Vehicle. There are lots of fun ways that people can get involved and incorporate yellow and green into a fundraising challenge.

“You could hold a dress down day at work or a non-uniform day at school and wear funky clothes or even spray your hair yellow and green, with a suggested minimum donation of £1 to Wiltshire Air Ambulance. Alternatively you could hold a yellow and green cake sale or if baking is not your thing, hold a yellow and green food party or challenge yourself to eat only yellow and green food for a day and be sponsored.

“Another idea is to hold a yellow and green themed quiz or hold a raffle with yellow and green prizes. You could even ask your workplace or school to change their logo colours to yellow and green.

“All the funds raised will help to keep Wiltshire Air Ambulance flying and saving lives. We are a charity and rely on donations to keep our essential service operational. We are not funded directly by the Government and receive no National Lottery grants.”

In 2018 the demand for the skills of Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s critical care team resulted in an increase in missions of 26%, to 1,103.

The first seven months of this year have been even busier for the team, who have been called to 719 incidents, of which the largest number were for cardiac emergencies followed by road traffic collisions. Other incidents included falls, strokes and sporting accidents.

It costs £3.75 million a year to keep Wiltshire Air Ambulance operational, that’s just over £10,000 per day.

If you would like to help turn Wiltshire yellow and green during Air Ambulance Week get in touch with the charity’s fundraising team by calling 01225 300536, email [email protected] or visit www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/aaweek2019