Archives: Community TYs

A huge thank you to one of our wonderful volunteers Jan Swallow who has raised a very impressive £2,240 sewing masks during in lockdown!

A huge thank you to Mandate Systems who recently donated £150 to the YAA. Mandate Systems are a family run business who specialise in Pressure Systems testing and test the fuel pumps at both our Nostell and Topcliffe Airbases. Thank you so much for your generous support.

Chris Roper and Simon McEvoy completed the coast to coast challenge and raised an incredible £1,334 for the YAA!

The way of the roses challenge was completed in memory of Mick Cottam who sadly passed away following a motorbike incident 10 years ago. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance was Mick’s favourite charity and since his passing, Mick’s partner Tracy as well as family and friends have continued to raise funds to keep the helicopters flying and providing a lifesaving service for other motorcyclists and the wonderful people of Yorkshire.

Vickie Bowden, West Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser said: “Well done to Chris and Simon for completing the coast to coast challenge and raising an impressive £1,334 for the YAA. The money raised will help greatly towards the vital funding of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and we are grateful for all the support we recieve.”

Yorkshire Air Ambulance were due to be the main beneficiary of the Wensleydale Wander organised by the Wensleydale Rotary Club this Summer but due to Covid19, the event was cancelled.  That didn’t stop them still raising £1,000 from a Lockdown Limericks competition, asking for donations on their Zoom Charter Night celebrations and making and selling face masks.  A huge thank you to the outgoing President, Susan Rogers for coming up with such ingenious ideas.

Tessa Klemz, North Yorkshire Community Fundraiser, said: “We would like to thank Susan and the Club for all their generous support during this difficult period when fundraising has been badly hit.  The £1,000 raised will enable the Yorkshire Air Ambulance to continue saving lives across rural Wensleydale.”

A huge thank you to Sophie Riggs who raised £2,595 for the YAA.

Sophie was planning on hosting a Summer Ball and Raffle at the Yorkshire Barn Gilling West, but due to the pandemic it was cancelled. Sophie continued to raffle the prizes she had donated and the people who had paid for their tickets generously said they would like to donate the money to the YAA raising the fantastic amount of £2,595.

Lin Stead, North Yorkshire Regional Fundraiser, said: “We would like to thank Sophie for her support and generosity and for her innovative way of fundraising during this difficult period.

The £2,595  raised will help tremendously towards the vital funding of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and will enable us to continue saving lives across the region.”

A huge thank you to the Haribo team for sending some sweet treats for our crew and staff.

A huge thank you to Emily, aged 7 who has raised an impressive £950 from a 150k walking and cycling challenge during lockdown. Thank you for your support Emily and well done!

We would like to say a huge thank you to Shaun Weatherhead, who has raised a fantastic £2840 from his UMan Covid-19 Mission. UMan brought joy to local streets. Helping to improve children/families spirits and wellbeing during lock down by visiting local communities. All visits complied with the government guidelines – adhering to social distancing.

A huge thank you to The Vegilantes who have kindly donated a big supply of their new luxury plant-based burgers to our crews to enjoy whilst they’re on shift.  The Vegilantes have just launched a new luxury range of plant-based meals & products in Morrison stores nationwide.  We’re told by the crew that they are very nice indeed!

Alistair and Victoria Grenfell have raised £24,000 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance after the Yorkshire Air Ambulance saved their then five year old daughter’s life when she was critically ill two years ago.

On the 24^th January 2018, Beatrice Grenfell, aged five, from Whitby, was sent home from school due to feeling unwell.

“She was a little bit hot, but didn’t seem that poorly”, said Beatrice’s mother Vicky. “She asked to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and she seemed okay.” Vicky briefly left the room and when she returned, she found Bea unconscious.

“When I came back into the room Bea had been sick and wet herself and she was staring blankly into space and was completely unresponsive. She then went into a prolonged seizure and began to turn blue”, said Vicky.

Vicky called 999 and the land ambulance arrived to assess Bea, followed shortly by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. It was then decided that Bea would be flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesborough, a journey which would take an hour by road, but took only thirteen minutes by air.

Bea was seen on the major trauma ward where she was put into an induced coma, then transferred into paediatric intensive care where she spent three days, whilst doctors worked on discovering what was wrong. A series of tests revealed that she had contracted Influenza B and RSV, both life threatening conditions in such a young child.

Luckily Bea made a full recovery, but in March, she received results from of her MRI scan and it revealed that Bea was showing signs of Neurofibromatosis type 1, which was one of many conditions doctors had been testing her. Further tests then went on to confirm she does have the condition.

Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that causes tumours to develop on parts on your nervous system such as your brain, spinal cords and nerves and can lead to other chronic health conditions. It is often diagnosed in childhood and affects 1 in 3000 children.

Last year Victoria and Alistair organised a 12 hour  Dance-a-thon in Whitby which was a huge success and this year, Alistair also took part in the Yorkshire Marathon.

Victoria said: “We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have just hit the £24,000 mark raised for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the fantastic charity which was part of an incredible team of people who saved our then five-year-old daughter’s life when she was critically ill just over two years ago.

We are eternally grateful to this fabulous charity and we also want to say a massive THANK YOU to all of our wonderful family and friends from all over the world, as well as the amazing people of Whitby, who have so kindly donated funds and raffle prizes, given their time to help plan for, orchestrate and attend events and given their support in so many ways to keep this total rising.”

Kevin Hutchinson, East Community Fundraiser for the YAA said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to Vicky and Alistair for their generosity and support and everyone who helped make their events a success.

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 tremedously towards the vital funding of our service.”

Boroughbridge Football Club recently lost one of its family members following the sudden death of Tony Allen, who died from a heart attack despite the best efforts of Yorkshire Air Ambulance and hospital staff.

Tony, better known  as TA, was born in Stockton -on-Tees and spent his early working life in the Royal Air Force, moving to North Yorkshire in the early eighties where he was employed in the logistics department at Linton-on Ouse as a civilian. Have bike will travel was how he introduced himself to the club and his first night at training was enough to tell us that what he lacked in pace was compensated by an abundance of technical skill and flair.

The early eighties and the two decades following, was one of the most successful periods in the Club’s history and TA was an integral part of that era, enjoying a myriad of success in the Harrogate, Claro and York Leagues, and York & Harrogate District FA’s.  Suddenly this little known club from out in the sticks began to etch a name for itself  which was enhanced further by their exploits in the West Riding County Challenge Cup and Northern Counties Senior Cup Competition. TA hung up his playing boots in 2001 to take on the role of Assistant Manager alongside Daz Ekin and in their inaugural year in the West Yorkshire League they guided the team to the Division One Championship and Divisional Cup. TA’s enthusiasm for the sport and the development of younger players brought him back into the game and he spent a few seasons playing with the A team and following his son Carl.

Even when his interest in the playing side waned he would still be seen on the touchline expressing his views and never afraid to tell it as he saw. The Charity fixture was a spontaneous gesture to TA and once mooted it went ahead within seven days with players from past and present, young and old participating.  A tribute to a great guy who will be missed by us all and the £400.00 raised donated to Yorkshire Air Ambulance.