2015 was a tremendous year for us, finishing off with a flurry of exciting activities in November and December. Our fundraising office is always a hub of activity but has been particularly abuzz of late. Some of the main reasons behind that have been The Big Top Ball, the 2015 car raffle, a new team member and some great corporate support.
The Big Top Ball, held on December 5, was a great success, despite the terrible weather conditions at that time. The event was attended by 100 individual and corporate supporters, GNAAS staff and volunteers and crew members. Hosted by the charity’s patron, Pam Royle, the glamourous evening generated more than £7,721. A great time was had by all and none of it would have been possible without the contribution of some very good people. Massive thanks goes out to sponsors The Cumberland News, MT Print, Rheda Retreat, The Artificial Flowershop, The Memory Knot and Pig n Mix Sweet Company, who helped transform the ballroom into a spectacular circus backdrop. All raffle prizes and auction lots were donated by generous supporters and Ruby’s Runawayz.
Equally successful was our annual raffle, which saw supporters buy almost 119,000 tickets in the hope of winning a new VW up! courtesy of the Benfield Charitable Trust. But there could only be one winner and that was John Brown from Whitehaven, a long-standing supporter of GNAAS and a member of our lottery. An additional £18,846 was given in donations, bringing the total raised to a fantastic £137,819.
In other positive news, our fundraising team welcomed Pete Moody as volunteer coordinator in November. Pete is looking to enhance and develop the volunteer experience at the charity. You can read a few words from our new team member here.
Businesses and organisations are a very important part of our support network and we have been boosted by several businesses getting on board. Six branches of the Co-operative Bank in the North-East chose to support GNAAS in the lead up to Christmas, raising £2,247.43 though raffles and selling of merchandise. Elsewhere, LLWR Repository in Seascale, Cumbria, have been supporting us since June 2015 when they appointed us as their chosen charity. In total they have raised £1,733 with another £1,900 to collect.
Corporate support is absolutely vital for raising awareness and further funds for us that will help keep our helicopters and amazing medical team in the sky. They are absolutely part of our mission to save lives. Yet, it’s not a one way street as many of the businesses who chose to support us, speak of the numerous benefits to team moral and engagement by partnering with a local charity such as ourselves. We’ll go into more detail on this in future blog posts but if you would like to get your business involved in the meantime, please contact us on 01325-487263 or email support@greatnorthairambulance.co.uk
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