Governance

We are a registered charity in England and Wales, No. 1121300. We are registered with the Charity Commission.

Trustees

We are governed by a board of Trustees, who set the charity's strategic direction and hold the appointed officers to account. Our Trustees are:

Jason Holt

Jason joined us as Chair of the Board of Trustees in December 2024.

As well as being the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jason is the Chair of EDX Medical Group PLC and was appointed by the Secretary of State for Transport as Chair of Dover Harbour Board. He is also Chief Executive and Board Director of European Cargo Limited. His previous roles have included Whitehall’s Chief Executive of Test at the UK Government’s DHSS Test & Trace, Chief Executive and Chairman of Swissport Western Europe, Executive Vice President and Board Member of Cargolux International SA Luxembourg, and Director of Strategy at EasyJet Airlines.

In his spare time, Jason enjoys tennis, skiing and flying, having previously been a Squadron Leader with the The Royal Air Force in his early career. Jason is a Gloucestershire resident with first-hand experience of what an air ambulance crew can bring to people on their worst day. 12 years ago, Jason was the first person on scene at a serious road traffic collision, where he witnessed the lifesaving difference an air ambulance can make.

Martyn Drake

Martyn became a Trustee in summer 2017 and was Chair of the Board of Trustees from January 2019 until December 2024. His achievements include helping to strengthen GWAAC in terms of our people, leading the service we provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing our number of operational missions, improving our financial stability and bringing good business practices whilst retaining our social purpose. Martyn remains a vital part of our Board of Trustees.

He has worked locally in Bristol for nearly 20 years running a large financial services business in a global organisation. He was responsible for over 700 people and has extensive experience of, amongst other things, change management, integrating acquired businesses, IT and HR functions.
Martyn has a passion for ensuring that charities are run like a profitable business whilst never losing sight of their charitable aims.

He became interested in GWAAC when his son was lifted off a mountain by helicopter after a ski accident, the speed of response leading to a full recovery.

Caroline Peters MBE

Caroline retired from her position as Assistant Chief Constable in 2019. She was responsible for Firearms, Roads policing, Dogs and Homicide investigation teams in Avon and Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire constabularies.

Caroline is a policing and aviation consultant.

Dr Matt Thomas

Matt has been a consultant in Intensive Care in Bristol since 2008. He is currently the Executive Medical Director at South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust. He has been involved in a number of major strategic changes in critical care in hospitals.

Matt has been a Critical Care Doctor with GWAAC since 2008, and between 2013 and 2018 years operated as the lead clinician, being integrally involved in the upgrade to an EC135 helicopter and the move of operations to the charity’s current base in Almondsbury.

Matt was integral in the formation of GWAAC’s award-winning Great Western Hearts project which has trained thousands of people in emergency First Aid and CPR. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the charity’s fundraising, including running a half marathon and several obstacle courses.

Outside work, Matt lives close to the airbase and enjoys spending time with his family of three growing children. He is a Scout leader and proud that all his troop have their fundraising and emergency aid badges.

John Houlden

John is a lawyer and has been a Partner at Burges Salmon for over 10 years. He heads the firm’s Public Sector team and has significant experience of advising central government, Non-Departmental Public Bodies and contractors on high-profile and complex projects in the public sector.

John is also the firm’s Corporate Responsibility partner and a Trustee of the firm’s Charitable Trust.

Outside of work, John’s focus is on his family and juggling their many and varied sporting activities. When time allows (which is not that often) John enjoys running, rugby and walking the dog. John has lived in Bristol for over 20 years.

Robin Jaques

Robin Jaques is a Partner in a UK consultancy business, S A Partners, and is also responsible for leading the company’s fast growing US subsidiary. He supports customers globally within a range of sectors including manufacturing, retail, aerospace, life sciences and distribution. His passion is for developing sustainable Enterprise Excellence programmes and understanding how companies can connect and engage with their employees.

Prior to S A Partners, Robin worked with James Dyson at Dyson Appliances, setting up and supporting the growth of a business that grew from £5m to £250m in less than 4 years. In this role Robin also led the teams responsible for inbound and outbound supply, warehousing, commercial management and factory planning. His earlier career was in commercial supply chain management at Airbus.

Robin was a GWAAC patient in 2019 and is now fully recovered and back to the sport he loves most - cycling. He is married with 2 teenage daughters and a family dog.

Simon Davies

Simon is currently the Deputy Director of Operational Finance at North Bristol NHS Trust. He is a Chartered Management Accountant and prior to joining the NHS in 2020 he spent 15 years working in senior finance roles in the defence sector, including working for the UK MoD and NATO in support of the UK’s fast jet fleet. Simon has lived in Bristol since 2003 and enjoys spending time with his family in the outdoors and coaching youth football.

Our lottery

We operate a weekly lottery to raise funds, which is regulated by the Gambling Commission.

GWAAC Lottery Terms and Conditions

GWAAC Lottery Complaints and Disputes Policy

GWAAC's Social Responsibility in Gambling Policy

Thanks to the generosity of the supporters of our lottery, we are proud to declare that £1.4m was raised in 2023, which represented nearly 70% of the gross proceeds, after prizes and expenses. We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support from all of our lottery subscribers, which will ensure the continuation of our service into the future.

We are registered with The Fundraising Regulator, the independent regulator of charitable fundraising. Our fundraising activities comply with the Fundraising Code of Practice

Crew and Charity Team

Meet the rest of the people who make up GWAAC

Meet the crew

The Charity Team

Safeguarding

The GWAAC safeguarding policy is available on request by contacting safeguarding@gwaac.com