Cornwall Air Ambulance July 2022 Update

16th July: Huge numbers descend on first ever Helifest event.

Over 2,000 people turned out in force last Saturday (16th July) for Cornwall Air Ambulance’s first ever Helifest event.

In perfect weather, families flocked to the blue light event in Padstow & were treated to an afternoon of live music, circus entertainment, workshops, exhibitions & demonstrations & stalls from our local blue light services including South West Ambulance Service, Cornwall Blood Bikes, Devon & Cornwall Police, Cornwall Fire Service, The British Army, RNLI, HM Coastguard & The National Coast watch.

Visitors to the event were able to see for the first time, Cornwall Air Ambulance’s AW169; its newest £7.5 million helicopter, as well as meeting its lifesaving paramedic team & pilot. Queues patiently waited to see the helicopter & were rewarded by being able to take photos, meet the crew & go inside the impressive red & yellow aircraft.

With an afternoon programme of live music hosted by Rewind Radio, visitors were treated to wide genre of musical tastes including Samba Kernow, Lottee Brown, InTune Choir, Change the Letters, Roguey Roads, St Dennis Brass B&, The Stowes, Sam Casy & headliners, Queen tribute act – Good Old Fashioned Loverboys.

Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s Chief Executive, Tim Bunting, said: “I would like to thank the thousands of visitors alongside our blue light services who braved the hot weather to visit our first ever Helifest. It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves & we were delighted that everyone got to meet up close for the first time, Cornwall’s new AW169 helicopter which was generously paid for by local people. With the financial support of the community, we were able to respond to over 1,100 life-saving missions last year, providing critical care support to the people of Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.”

Tim added: “Helifest was a real celebratory event of all our blue light services who play such a crucial role in our community. We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback we’ve received following the event & we’re very hopeful that Helifest can return once again next year.”

Commenting on Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s Facebook page, Catherine Webber said: “What an excellent day. Great to see the crew again & show my daughter the new helicopter. So grateful we have you & all the emergency services working together in Cornwall.”

19th July: Stunning Heli Dinner raises vital funds towards future missions

120 people attended our first Heli Dinner at Tregonce Barn in St Issey last Sunday evening (17th July) with a big thanks to Rachel & Sam Bishop at Trevear Farm & Daphnae Skinnard for compering the evening.

The event which was led by one of Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s ambassadors, Dr Karen Dickens & supported by the Philanthropy Forum, raised £82,000 for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust. Guests were treated to a stunning 7 course meal followed by an auction, raffle & an opportunity to fund fuel for a mission. The event began with a talk from Air Operations Officer, Steve Garvey who gave an overview on what it was like working for the Trust whilst also reflecting on his work in attending missions across Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.

Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust’s CEO, Tim Bunting said ‘What a fantastic evening & it was great to see people coming together to get behind Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust in a truly remarkable way. We are extremely grateful to everyone who played their part in either donating money or prizes for us to sell in our auction & for those who generously came along & helped fund some of our future missions. It was amazing to see so many people motivated with a single aim of helping us in our mission of saving lives. I would like to thank Dr Karen Dickens & the Philanthropy Forum including Jonathan McCulloch, Jackie Stanley & Karen Hurn for leading this amazing event. Every pound raised from the Heli Dinner will help us continue funding over 1,100 missions every year for those people who need critical care support across Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly.’

Dr Karen Dickens who led the event said ‘I would like to thank the many people who came together to make this such a special occasion. We appreciate all those who came along to the Heli Dinner, donating their time & money with 100% of every penny raised going directly to Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust – & helping towards the £5 million plus that needs to be raised each year to run its services. I am extremely proud of everyone who played their part in making this event such a success.’

An incredible thanks to the following:

The generosity of Rachel & Sam Bishop of Trevear Farm – we had the perfect location. It took an amazing team to put it together from planning to working around the clock last week – so many thanks to our incredible Chefs, Helping H&s & Pans, Jackie Stanley, Karen Hurn, Jonathan McCulloch, Nikki Edwards, Moonlight Venue Solutions, Tracy Farrell, David Withers, Beau Sala, Wendy McCulloch, UK Productions, Blue Radish & Steve Williams.

We can’t thank our wonderful chefs enough for their support & delivering the most incredible menu on Sunday Stephane Delourme, Henk De Villiers Ferreira, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Tuck, Eddy Rains, Jack Clements, Jamie Patrick Porter &Timothy Kendall together with their teams & Helping Hands & Pans for delivering incredible service. Thanks to Comitti Boats UK & Caribbean, Duchy Game, George Cleave Fish Merchant, Jackie Stanley, Kepak, Rodda’s Cornish Clotted Cream, Sharp’s Brewery, St Ewe Free Range Eggs, The Drunken Jockeys, Southern England Farms, Sparkenhoe Leicestershire Handmade Cheese, Tintagel Duck Farm, Metzendorf, Total Produce FoodService, Rick Stein Restaurants for their generous donations of produce & drinks.

Steve Garvey brought tears to most eyes with his incredible description of his role as a paramedic with the Cornwall Air Ambulance with St Dennis Band – Cornwall Darren R. Hawken providing the perfect pre-dinner entertainment & the wonderful Daphne Skinnard our compare & auctioneer for the evening. Thanks for donations of auction items, raffle prizes & other items to Comitti Boats UK & Caribbean, Clarendon Fine Art, Sherree Valentine Daines, Clifford’s Joinery, Frost of London, Iconic Hotel, Kernow L& Girls, Kurt Jackson Contemporary Artist, Lord Rothschild, Metzendorf, Olga Polizzi, Hotel Tresanton, Radley London, The Goring Hotel, Old Custom House, Padstow & The Flower Shed.

Also thanks to:
Beau Sala, Blue Radish, Clarendon Fine Art & Sherree Valentine Daines, Cliffords Joinery, Comitti Boats UK & Caribbean, Cornish Interiors
Cornwall Air Ambulance Philanthropy Forum, Daphne Skinnard, Duchy Game, Elements Events, Frost of London, George Cleave Fish Merchant, Helping Hands & Pans, Iconic Luxury Hotels, Jackie Stanley Estate Agents, Kepak, Kernow Land Girls, Kurt Jackson, Lord Rothschild, Metzendorf, Moonlight Venue Solutions, Olga Polizzi & Hotel Tresanton, Rachel & Trevear Farm, Radley London, Rick Stein & his Team, Roddas, Sharpes Brewery, Southern England Farms, Sparkenhoe Handmade Cheese Company, St Dennis Band, St Ewe, St Kew Inn, Tarquins Cornish Gin, The Barley Sheaf, The Drunken Jockeys, The Flower Shed, The Goring Hotel, The Halfway House Inn, The Old Coastguard Hotel, The Old Custom House, Tintagel Duck Farm, Total Produce, UK Productions, Wendy McCulloch, Williams Photography

26th July: Race against time for team of accountants on fundraising challenge.

Top 30 accountancy firm, Bishop Fleming’s most Northern & Southern offices are on a fundraising journey as they compete against each other in their latest challenge on Friday (29 July).

Two teams of four from the firms Worcester & Truro offices will take part in ‘Bishop Fleming’s Race to Base’ at the end of July raising money for their chosen charities of the year – Cornwall Air Ambulance & Midlands Air Ambulance.

The challenge will see both teams meet in Taunton, a central location from either office, & they will then race to base back to their respective offices. The teams will need to travel 108.5 miles with only a burner phone & limited cash. The team who returns to their office in the quickest time wins.

Cornwall Air Ambulance are called to some of the most critical & life-threatening cases in Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly & attend over 1,100 missions every year. Midlands Air Ambulance are one of the busiest crews in the UK, covering Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, & the West Midlands.

Julia Jeffery, Fundraising Officer for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust, said “Bishop Fleming have been an incredible supporter of Cornwall Air Ambulance, raising thousands of pounds for the charity in lots of different ways. We are delighted they are continuing to support the lifesaving work of Cornwall Air Ambulance in this exciting challenge. We will all be routing for the Cornish team – good luck!”

Shannon Grimsley, Audit Executive at Bishop Fleming who has organised the challenge, said “At Bishop Fleming we like to ‘Dare to be different’, so when the opportunity arose to create a fundraising event between our two offices, I knew I needed to come up with something that had never been done before.”

“I wasn’t sure the idea would stick at first, but everybody got right behind it & it was all systems go. The challenge is a great way to raise the social profile of both the charities, while creating some healthy competition between the offices, & having a bit of fun. We are hopeful that between the two offices we can raise enough money to cover the cost of 1 lifesaving journey for each charity.”

To donate to the Truro team in aid of Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust visit Emily Rowe is fundraising for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust (justgiving.com)