Asda staff and shoppers across Yorkshire have given the Yorkshire Air Ambulance a bumper Christmas present.
During 2014, the supermarket’s 23 stores in the region have raised a whopping £90,933 for the life saving charity.
And Asda is confident the amazing generosity of their employees and customers will help them reach £100,000 by the end of the year.
Money has been raised through a wide range of activities and events – from skydives to sponsored bag packing, tins on the tills, in-store Yorkshire Day and Grand Depart celebrations, sponsored walks, raffles and the sale of YAA merchandise.
The Asda staff were also delighted to unveil their logo which is now carried on both of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance helicopters as a thank you for all of their fundraising efforts.
Lisa Stagg, Community Life champion at Asda Wakefield, said: “We are a Yorkshire based business and this is a fantastic charity that does an amazing job saving lives across Yorkshire every day but relies totally on public donations.
“A couple of Asda colleagues have actually required the help of the service, so it is a charity that is close to our hearts, and we are delighted to support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.”
Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) is an independent rapid response charity, which has carried more than 5,800 people in its 14-year history. It needs to raise £9,900 every day to keep its two helicopters in the air and maintained.
Without any direct government funding, the only help the charity receives is through the secondment of its paramedics from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
The money raised comes on top of a donation of just over £53,000 made to the YAA last year after a summer fundraising campaign by 17 Asda stores across Yorkshire.
Kerry Garner, YAA regional fundraiser, said: “We are overwhelmed by the support and generosity of Asda, their store staff and amazing customers across Yorkshire.
“Given we are an independent charity, we rely on organisations such as Asda and their customers to help us raise the vital funds we need. We really cannot thank them enough.”
