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Celebrating our Supporters

Providing urgent critical care to our communities is only possible because of the support we are given, from the people who live in those communities. People like those below. Every bake sale, sponsored challenge or donation enables us to be there for those who need us the most. 

Read about some of GWAAC's inspiring supporters: 

GWAAC’s supporters

Team Velocity World Flight

WorldFlight is an annual event in which 12 full-sized simulators, similar to our own, are flown in unison for a week, 24 hours a day, circumnavigating the world in a series of legs.

Over the last 5 years Team Velocity as raised over £15,000 for our Partner charities. The Team come from all walks of life, including Commercial and Private Pilots.

We will be flying on the VATSIM Network using the callsign Neptune 11 Whiskey (NPT11W), check out the tracking map to see where we are!
GWAAC’s supporters

Luke Aires

Jumping out of a plane is a daunting challenge for most people, but for fundraiser Luke it is just the next step in his challenge journey. This week he took to the skies of Devon before plummeting back down to earth from 15,000ft. All in aid of GWAAC. Luke is a recently qualified First Responder and wanted to give back to the medical community that has supported him so far.

If you'd like to support Luke in his challenge, you can visit his fundraising page by clicking the image above.
GWAAC’s supporters

Rachael Goatman

GWAAC is a cause close to the heart of long-time fundraiser Rachael. She says, "Six years ago my long-term friend suffered a heart attack in his lorry in the early hours of the morning. GWAAC's crew attended quickly, but sadly he passed away. In his last moments he was so reassured and cared for by the crew, as were his friends and family."

Not only was Rachael one of our fantastic Bristol Half Marathon runners last month, but she also is taking on the Virtual London Marathon on Sunday 3rd October in aid of GWAAC. We're in awe of Rachael's efforts, and are sure that she is going to smash the 26 miles!
GWAAC’s supporters

Andrea Hanwell

On Wed 4th Aug Andrea was involved in a freak accident in Wells and had to be airlifted from Wells Cathedral Green to Southmead Hospital with suspected fractures of the femur and pelvis.

She wanted to show her appreciation of Captain Jim, Dr Tim, Trainee SPCC Callum, and the rest of the GWAAC team. And within weeks of her accident began fundraising.

"Without doubt the Ambulance and Air Ambulance crews plus the wonderful staff at Southmead saved my life for which I and my family are eternally grateful. I am now on a mission to raise £8k for Great Western Air Ambulance Charity before my 80th birthday this month and would greatly appreciate any contribution in helping me achieve my goal."
GWAAC’s supporters

North Gloucestershire AFL

Despite a less than usual 2020/21 season, North Gloucestershire Football League showed that although form might be temporary class is permanent as they raised a net-busting £6500 for GWAAC – by far and away the most they’ve raised in a season, taking their total support to £25,300! Whilst the last two league seasons were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, the enterprising North Gloucestershire outfit switched things up with their charity cup competitions to help ensure our lifesaving charity can continue to provide people of Gloucestershire and surrounding counties with the best possible chance on their worst day.

"Our cup competitions were founded in 1934 with the aim of fund raising for hospital charities and we have been doing that every year since. In 2012 we decided to support GWAAC. Many of us know people who have needed it. Every time we see that green helicopter fly over we are glad not to be on it but so grateful to know that it is there for us if we or our friends or family need it. Undoubtedly it is a lifesaver and it is a privilege to be a tiny part of a wide community keeping it in the air."
Sara Angell

Sara Angell

Sara set herself the target of raising £1,000 for her local air ambulance charity with a walk along the length of the Strawberry Line.

Sara is (if she doesn’t mind us saying) something of a legend in Locking and was able to rally the community behind her to raise a whopping £1,800.94

Sara is a poet extraordinaire and was kind enough to write us this ditty to show her support for GWAAC:
G Great charity that I chose to do my sponsored walk for earlier today
W With support and encouragement from their team every step of the way
A Also I was humbled to share stories of families for whom they were there
A Actual incidents where without the swift response, tragedy and despair
C Chance maybe made me chose them but I believe it was meant to be
Because Great Western Air Ambulance you are a simply priceless charity
TGAAB Ian

Two Guys and a Bull

Brad and Ian Guy (pictured) and friends, are about to take on their fifth fancy dress charity walk - their second in aid of GWAAC.

This year they're walking 30 miles from Highnam to the Stroud Valleys via Hempsted, Kingsway, Whitminster, The Stanleys, Ryeford, Ebley and Cainscross before finishing at Cashes Green.

They've already raised £3,500 surpassing last year's total, so come and support them if you can.

They start Saturday 28th August at 8am. Along with everyone on their route from Highnam to Cashes Green, we look forward to cheering them on (from above!).
ArtGallerySW

Art Gallery SW

Art Gallery SW is supporting a number of the South West air ambulance charities – D&SAA, Cornwall, and Devon, as well as GWAAC. Local artists’ sales will be supporting their local charity. The exhibition brings together 90 contemporary emerging and established artists from across the South West. GWAAC’s artists are drawn from Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset, and Wiltshire.

Anita Saunders, one of the artists supporting GWAAC said: “I have total admiration for the hard work and incredible service the charity provides, and am delighted to help in generating funds for you.”

Sales are open from July 16th until December 31st 2021, a full list of the artists who are supporting GWAAC is listed on the exhibition website. Click the image to find out more!
Rach+Raine

Rach and Raine's 3 Peaks Challenge

On 26th June, sisters Rach and Raine set off on an epic challenge – to climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England, and Wales within 24 hours. The challenge was even tougher than they had anticipated, but they powered through and completed their Three Peaks Challenge in aid of GWAAC. They have managed to raise an incredible £13,271 for a cause extremely close to their hearts. In June 2019, Rach’s son Ollie was involved in a serious road traffic collision. GWAAC attended the scene and helped transfer him to Southmead hospital. The interventions Dr Tim, and SPCCs James and Pete performed that day saved Ollie’s life. This week Rach, Raine, Ollie, and his siblings returned to GWAAC’s airbase to meet Dr Tim and present the cheque for their incredible fundraising. Ollie is now fit and healthy – a keen snowboarder and rugby player. You can read more about Ollie’s incident by clicking the picture above. They are already planning their next challenge – we can’t wait to see what these incredible people do next!
GWAAC’s supporters

William's Running Challenge

10 year old William's great grampa, known as Numps, was attended to by GWAAC's Critical Care Team. In his memory, William set himself the target of raising £100. So far he has raised almost £500! Setting out to run 1 mile per day for 10 days, William has been out pounding the pavements even whilst on his summer holidays. On some days, he even ran more than a mile because he was so determined to complete his challenge for Numps. William’s choice of charity and challenge was entirely his own – he was incredibly close to his Numps and wanted to do something to support GWAAC after all they did to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you, William! If you would like to donate to William's fundraising page, you can click the picture above.
GWAAC’s supporters

Chris Handscomb

After our crew attended to one of Chris's friends, Jasmine, he was inspired to raise vital funds for GWAAC. For one whole month, Chris cycled 5k and walked 5k each day! No rest days and 396.44km later Chris successfully completed the challenge and raised £190 for us. Huge thank you from us all here at GWAAC.
Nick Tindal

Penny Meredith

‘’I can't give him a hug or a card, but I can pay tribute to his memory by raising money to help the Air Ambulance teams help others in their time of need.’’ After Penny tragically lost her dad in 2015, she decided to shave her head and raise funds for one of the emergency service crews that desperately tried to save him. In total Penny has fantastically raised £585.00

Jim Hannis

Jim’s County around the County challenge! Gloucestershire farmer Jim set himself a rather unusual challenge to raise funds for GWAAC… Jim drove his 1970 Ford County Tractor around Gloucestershire keeping as close to the border as possible. That’s 350 miles with 220 road junctions! Amazingly Jim has raised over £5000 – enough for two lifesaving missions.
Bath

University of Bath Masters Students

As part of their Masters course, students are encouraged to take part in an Action Project, which sees them work with local charities to raise much-needed funds and valuable awareness of causes throughout Bath & North East Somerset. GWAAC is delighted to continue working with students at the University of Bath, who never fail in their generous support for our work in B&NES. We look forward to seeing how they get on! We are working with two teams this year, each aiming to raise £200. One team is hosting a virtual scavenger hunt for local residents to take part in across Bath and Bristol. You can even win a tour of the GWAAC airbase! To sign up, support the team, and raise funds for your local air ambulance charity, click here.

How your support helps

Your support enables us to be there for people who desperately need us. 

Read some of our patient stories to see how your fundraising helps save lives. 

Patient Stories

Could you support your local air ambulance too? 

Find out how you can get involved here