A group of Shropshire fundraisers saw first hand how important it is to raise money for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity when they visited RAF Cosford to present a large cheque to the aircrew, as the rescue helicopter disappeared, off on another vitally important mission, as they arrived.
Dance with Sandra consists of weekly line dancing classes held at venues across the county and they have this year raised over £10,000 from sponsored events between them, and a small group of the dancers were invited to attend the Midlands Air Ambulance base to hand over the cheque.
Dance class organiser and instructor Sandra Speck, commented: “This just goes to show how important this air ambulance service is to the region and we have now been invited back to meet the staff and view the helicopter close-up on another day.
“We did wait around for about an hour and a half for the helicopter to return, but even then it simply landed, refuelled and was gone again within minutes, which of course is a true testament as to its value to the public and far more important for it to be out saving lives, rather than providing a mere photo opportunity for us.
“Our weekly dance classes have brought so many of us together as friends, we have such a laugh and enjoy ourselves that we even go abroad on holiday together as a group, so raising this money just adds to the overall fun.
“All of the dancers have been working very hard together to raise this money over the past twelve months, with some taking part in Ellesmere Carnival and Oswestry Christmas Parade, together with others holding regular coffee mornings and sponsored dance sessions. This brings the total that we have raised as a group to nearly £55,000 in a matter of only eight years and we are delighted to continue supporting this essential service in this way.”
Maria Jones of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Yet again, the Dance with Sandra line dancing groups have raised another fantastic amount of money for us.
“This is however a fully operational unit on constant call so it is just luck of the draw as to whether the helicopter has to fly off at very short notice, but Sandra and her team fully understood and we will gladly re-arrange a visit to the base for them again in the very near future.
“Midlands Air Ambulance needs over six million pounds a year just to operate and receives no Government or National Lottery funding at all, but relies entirely on legacies and donations from individuals and groups such as these. This is a truly amazing amount and builds on their many previous donations to date, so we are extremely grateful to Sandra and her team for continually supporting us in this way.”