Thirty years after a fatal accident in Sidbury led to the formation of Devon Air Ambulance, the village’s WI has presented a £500 cheque to the charity.
In 1986, teenager Ceri Thomas died following a road accident. His life might have been saved if he had been flown to hospital by helicopter, rather than by land ambulance.
This led to his mother Ann Ralli campaigning and fundraising for Devon to have its own air ambulance service.
On Saturday, April 9, Sidbury WI’s president Andrea Bass presented the £500 donation to Simon Card OBE of the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.
A WI spokesperson said: “It is easy to take the Air Ambulance for granted but it is a wonderful organisation, and it must be remembered that the Air Ambulance does not receive money from the NHS and has to raise its own funding.”
The WI’s next fundraising event is a Soup and Pud lunch to raise money for Sidmouth Living with Cancer, on Wednesday, May 11 at Sidbury Village Hall.
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