Issue 490 – Air Ambulance seeks lottery boost in celebration year

Story posted on December 16, 2009

With 2010 set to be a celebration year for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, the Charity is highlighting the importance of people supporting its weekly ‘Flight for Life’ lottery.

The life-saving Charity will officially be 10 years old in March 2010, and it is hoping for a record fund-raising year to commemorate the milestone.
The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Lottery has raised an amazing £7 million since its launch in December, 2000. The ‘Flight for Life’ lottery now has more than 27,000 members and makes a huge difference to the work of the Charity, which receives no Government funding and has to rely entirely on donations and fund-raising. Each lottery entry costs just £1 and all the proceeds go direct to the air ambulance.
The Charity’s lottery manager, Gareth Williams, said, ‘The ‘Flight for Life’ lottery is a sustainable income for us and it would be challenging to maintain the air ambulance service without its continued growth. We hold a draw every Friday and there are five main cash prizes, including a top prize of £1,000 and a number of other consolation prizes. There are no rollovers, so the prizes must be won each week. You do not even have to check the result – we do all that for you and send out your winner’s cheque by post.”
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance promotes and recruits new lottery members by door-to-door canvassing throughout the year. Canvassers are key to the Charity’s success and should always be knowledgeable, polite, and carry photographic identity badges so that the public can be assured they are genuine. They never ask for cash on the doorstep. The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has attended nearly 7,000 missions, with more than 700 so far this year.
Anybody who would like to join the ‘Flight for Life’ lottery can do so via the air ambulance’s website at www.dorsetandsomersetairambulance.org.uk or by emailing info@dorsetandsomersetairambulance.org.uk or telephoning 01823 669604, where they can also obtain more information about how to support the Charity in its celebration year. The air ambulance’s 10th birthday will be celebrated in 2010 with a anniversary event at its Henstridge airbase on June 12.