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A pupil at New Mill Junior School has received a ‘Covid-19 Community Award’ from Selby District Council after raising £3,500 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Between the end of April and July, adhering to social distancing rules, UGirl Remi Weatherhead aged nine, has been on a Covid-19 mission visiting local children and families across Huddersfield, Calderdale, Sherburn in Elmet and Cumbria along with her father UMan, raising community morale, improving wellbeing and lifting people’s spirits during the pandemic.

UMan, created by Shaun Weatherhead from Huddersfield, known locally for his work in schools as part of the U Can Shine children’s wellbeing project has helped inspire more than 75,000 children across the North of England.

It was Remi who inspired her father to don his superhero outfit to bring local cheer to the community during the pandemic and she offered to join him as his sidekick UGirl.

During their mission, UGirl and UMan raised over £3,500 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance from their community street visits, exceeding their initial £1,000 target.

Remi received her Covid-19 Community Award in recognition of the work she has done in Sherburn in Elmet where her cousins live.

A Yorkshire Air Ambulance cheque presentation took place at Remi’s school in New Mill with her classmates from her bubble, Head Teacher Evelyne Barrow, Angela Vyas from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and UMan celebrating Remi’s award and the money raised for the charity.

Councillor Dave Brooks, said: “On behalf of Sherburn in Elmet I would like to express our thanks to Remi and UMan for considering our community during their fundraising tour of Yorkshire. Their efforts raised a smile and spread some positivity during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

More importantly the monies raised for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance will help to support a vital service for the whole of Yorkshire. As a Yorkshire Party Councillor, it fills me with pride that a young person has used such creativity to support a worthwhile cause. Well done to Remi.”

Remi’s head teacher at New Mill Junior School, Evelyne Barrow said: “As a school we are immensely proud of Remi, she has been an amazing role model to her peers and gone above and beyond for her community during this very difficult time. Putting the happiness of others before her own, she has gone out of her way to cheer up those who have been struggling during lockdown and worked hard to raise spirits raising such an amazing sum of money for the air ambulance. What a star!”

Angela Vyas, West Yorkshire Community Fundraiser at the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to congratulate Remi on her Covid-19 Community Award and thank both Remi and Shaun for their continued support and generosity during lockdown.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and air and the support we receive is truly appreciated.”

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.

Back in March, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) estimated that there could potentially be a deficit of around £420,000 from cancelled fundraising events during the 2020 summer period.

As COVID-19 and its impact continues to progress into the autumn and winter months, fundraising activity is still significantly decreased, mainly because larger gatherings are still prohibited.  As a result, the life-saving emergency service Charity has seen a much larger hit to their financial income than initially predicted, and as such, now estimate that fundraising deficit for the Charity stands in the region of £1.2M.

Peter Sunderland, Chairman, commented: “Like many Charities and businesses across the UK, the YAA has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.  It really has been the most challenging time for our teams, with strict restrictions still in place across much of the county, and most events being cancelled due to stringent social distancing measures. Whilst we have adapted to the new fundraising climate with virtual events and digital fundraising activities, this has been unable to replace the income that would have been generated from many of our larger events that take place annually.

Thanks to our previous foresight to plan for unexpected events, the YAA is currently able to continue carrying out our day to day operations at both our airbases.  However, the additional £1.2M income that we had budgeted for this year would have been hugely beneficial for building our reserves to ensure the continued stability of the Charity, and plans we have for future advancements and developments.”

Peter continued: “Our fundraising, marketing and administrative teams have been working extremely hard to continue raising the profile of the YAA within local communities, businesses and organisations, and generate much needed funds using new innovative methods and engaging creative ideas such as our 20^th anniversary virtual balloon race and online activities.”

The Charity, which has just celebrated its 20^th anniversary, provides two rapid-response emergency helicopters across the Yorkshire region.  Last year alone they treated nearly 1,150 patients after serious incidents.

Helen Callear, Director of Fundraising added, “Although it has been an incredibly challenging year for the team at the YAA, we have greatly benefitted from the hard work and support we have kindly received in the past, in riding out this crisis.  We have an incredibly loyal donor base, who we could not be more grateful to for their continued support.  We have worked hard to reduce our cost base in fundraising to the minimum, with use of technology like online Zoom meetings and presentations, and have also made it our absolute priority to keep in close contact with as many supporters as possible during the pandemic.  We are so fortunate that many of our supporters have also grown to become friends over the years.  Where various fundraising events have been able to take place, we have been proud to continue to offer support to everyone.”

Helen continued: “We are currently working on delivering more digital and hybrid fundraising events to enable us to adapt to the changing and challenging regional COVID-19 landscape, and keep everyone safe, and feel positive that the people of Yorkshire will continue to appreciate and support the life-saving air ambulance service we are still able to continue to provide.”

Peter concluded: “We have continued to be overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters as we entered our 20^th operational year this October and I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has taken time to contact us with messages of support.  However COVID aside, the services of the two Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopters continues to be required every day, and we will do everything we can to ensure the future of this life-saving Charity”

ENDS

Issued by Yorkshire Air Ambulance Communications team.

For further information, please contact Jessica McDonnell, PR and Communications Officer on j.mcdonnell@yaa.org.uk, or 07384 517 193.

Jack Jordan, 26, a Work Rider, originally from Scarborough, but currently living in Sherriff Hutton in North Yorkshire, began cycling during the pandemic to pass the time.

“My boss’ dad lent me his road bike and I decided to pedal to the Lake District, which was a difficult 117 miles. When I returned, I thought that I’m 26, young and fit and that I wanted to do something to raise funds for an important cause”, said Jack.

He continued: “I told a few people that I was aiming to cycle from Lands End to John O Groats in five days and I had quite a few doubters. That lit a fire in me to complete it.”

Jack cycled 173 miles a day supported by his girlfriend Cara Richardson, who travelled alongside Jack and stopped every 40 miles to provide a familiar face and sandwiches. Cara’s brother, Rafi, supplied Jack with a bike for the challenge from his business Ra Bikes.

“It was a mental hurdle, I set off at 5.30am and then when it got to 1pm it would dawn on me that I would still be cycling at 9pm. It was 13 hours on a bike a day”, said Jack.

When asked how he feels about completing the challenge, he continued: “It’s a money can’t buy experience, money can’t make you pedal from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland. I’m glad I was able to raise funds for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. Every time I see the helicopter in the sky, it will remind me of what I have achieved.”

Kevin Hutchinson, East Yorkshire Community Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to congratulate Jack on completing such a challenging cycle ride and thank him for supporting the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and raising an incredible £2,500 for the Charity.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and this year, due to the pandemic, the Charity has seen a loss of approximately £420,000 due to cancelled events. All of the support we receive is truly appreciated and will help us continue saving lives across the region.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance serves 5 million people across Yorkshire and carries out over 1,500 missions every year.

To support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and to donate to Jack’s Just Giving page, check out: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jack-jordan4

Businesses, community groups and individuals across Yorkshire have united to help the Yorkshire Air Ambulance celebrate their 20^th anniversary and have raised an impressive £3,840 for the rapid response charity.

The virtual balloon race commenced on the 19th October and finished on the Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s 20^th anniversary on October 25^th 2020. Prizes were awarded to first, second and third place balloons and participants were able to watch their balloons race via a virtual balloon race website and share messages with the Charity.

Lydia’s Voyager from the Frobelian School Leeds was the first place prize winner, taking home a £100 B&M voucher, kindly donated by B&M stores. Planet Platforms in Wakefield won the Marley Stir it up Record Player for second place and ICC Group, Wetherby took home third prize which was a generously donated Betty’s Northerallerton gift box. The bonus fourth place prize of a Yorkshire Air Ambulance commemorative 20^th Anniversary teddy bear went to Sue Munden for her 9 year old grandson Harry.

Jenny Jones, Regional Fundraising Manager (South and West) for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in our 20^th anniversary virtual balloon race. We were overwhelmed by everyone’s support and it was a great way to celebrate the Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s twentieth year.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of our air ambulances maintained and in the air and like many charities across the UK, this year we have been deeply impacted by COVID-19.  The money raised from the balloon race will help greatly towards the vital funding of our service and enable us to continue saving lives across the region.”

Thank you to all of our supporters, businesses and community groups who took part in the race, including:

Businesses

Home Instead (Wetherby and Ilkley), CMS Distribution, World of Wyndsors (Chesterfield), Capita Samsung (Leeds), JTF (Leeds), XPO (Bradford),  TOG 24, Eastwoods (Elland),  Junction 32 Retail Park, Recycling Solutions, LSI (Bradford), Planet Platforms (Wakefield),  Bardsey Tree Services, Caravan Guard (Halifax) and ICC Group (Wetherby).

Community Groups

Yorkshire Trikes, Eldwick Village Society, Aire Valley UK, Froebelian School, Gaslight Ukulele Band,  204 Sheffield Guides,  Wetherby Wharfedale Rotary Club, Hebden Royd PROBUS Retired Men’s Club,  Sowood WI, Trefoil Guild (Keighley, Shipley, York, Hull, Selby, Bridlington, Skipton, Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough, Barnsley, Doncaster and Billingham).

Armadillo Self-storage in Sheffield Parkway has now donated £14,093 worth of storage space to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is a lifesaving rapid response service, operating 365 days a year and covering the 4 million acres of Yorkshire with a population of 5 million people.

The charity has been using the Sheffield Parkway storage facility since 2014 to store fundraising equipment and merchandise, used by staff and volunteers to raise vital funds to keep both aircraft flying above Yorkshire.

The extensive support of the YAA from Armadillo Self-storage led to the firm receiving a special Corporate Partner Award at the annual Yorkshire Air Ambulance Recognition Awards in 2016.

Charlie Reeder, South Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to thank Armadillo Storage for their continued support and generosity over the last six years, businesses such as Armadillo are the life-blood of our charity.

It costs £12,000 a day to keep both of Yorkshire’s air ambulances maintained and in the air and having storage donated to us keeps our running costs down and ensures more of our donations go directly into saving lives across the region.”

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) has begun trialling contactless payments donations at Farmer Copleys in Pontefract, thanks to Yorkshire Payments.

The electronic device, the Good Box, accepts contactless donations offline, enabling the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to fundraise in more locations, particularly rural areas where there maybe be little or no mobile signal or WIFI. The high tech touch screen allows donors to increase or decrease their donation amount with ease, accepting payments of up to £30.

The Good box has been kindly donated to Yorkshire Air Ambulance for a 12 month period free of charge by the Brighouse based company, Yorkshire Payments.  The YAA will trial its success within the organisation, with the hope of rolling out more contactless donation boxes in the future and enticing a new generation of donors, for whom contactless donations are more convenient.

Farmer Copleys are long standing supporters of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and have hosted many YAA events over the years. Their farm shop and café is popular with Yorkshire Air Ambulance supporters making it a perfect place to test the new products viability.

Since the beginning of lockdown, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance have lost an estimated £420,000 from cancelled events and fundraising activity and it has become increasingly important to look for new methods of fundraising. The new contactless boxes are an innovative way of bringing fundraising to rural areas, whilst keeping donors and staff COVID safe.

Katie Collinson, Corporate and Partnerships Manager for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We are incredibly grateful for Yorkshire Payments support in helping us move our contactless giving forward and with the rise in contactless payments due to COVID-19, we hope the device will prove very popular with supporters.”

James Howard, Managing Director of Yorkshire Payments, said: “We are delighted to continue our partnership with the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and to provide our technology to such an iconic landmark and well renowned establishment such as Farmer Copleys.

Yorkshire Payments has identified a need to provide contactless and digital donations in the marketplace as fewer consumers are carrying cash, and the coins they do carry tends to be spare loose change. The charity sector right now has been significantly impacted by the pandemic and is in there is a desperate need to change consumer behaviour and habits to help support great organisations like The Yorkshire Air Ambulance to continue to operate.

We are proud to partner with this wonderful organisation and will do all we can to maximise the fundraising they do through alternative methods, such as contactless card payments, smart watch devices and smart phone payments.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance 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.

Shed 30, a newly opened café in Kirbymoorside has raised £405.25 from a motorcycle meet for rapid response charity, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The café, situated on the Kirkby Mills Industrial Estate, opened in June 2020 and the Classic 2 Stroke Motorcycle meet took place on Sunday 30^th August 2020 with nearly 600 motorbikes in attendance throughout the day. Prizes were given to the ‘Best Standard Machine’, ‘Best Custom Machine’ and ‘Best in Show’ and representatives from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance attended with a stall.

Event organiser and Shed 30 café owner, Jamie Wentworth, said: “I was quite surprised by how many people attended our first event, it was a fantastic day. We would like to thank everyone who supported us and who entered their machines in the show. I would also like to say a big thanks to Daisy Garden centre for attending and kindly donating £100 to the YAA.”

Speaking of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, he continued: “It’s such a good cause and we all need it, especially us bikers.”

Kevin Hutchinson, East Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to thank Shed 30 for their support and generosity and for raising an incredible £405.25 from their latest meet.

It was a fantastic event and the money raised will help greatly towards the vital funding of our service. We look forward to working with them in the future and wish them all the best with their new café.”

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/