One of the schools involved in the horror bus crash in County Durham has pledged to raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
Pupils at St Bede’s Catholic School in Lanchester have chosen GNAAS as their chosen charity for the upcoming academic year after the crew were involved in the emergency service rescue mission following the crash on Tuesday, June 3.
Fifty schoolchildren from St Bede’s and Tanfield Comprehensive were on their way to school when the two buses they were travelling on were involved in a head-on collision on the A693 in Stanley, County Durham, on the junction with Shield Row Lane, close to Oxhill Youth Centre.
GNAAS flew to the scene of the crash and worked alongside other emergency services in treating the dozens of casualties before airlifting a 12-year-old boy from Tanfield Comprehensive to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary with serious head injuries.
Now, St Bede’s School will support the life-saving charity with the school’s new intake of year sevens to take on GNAAS as one of their chosen charities in its upcoming academic year, starting in September.
Neville Harrison, headteacher at St Bede’s said: “We are so grateful for the excellent care shown by the crew of the air ambulance during last week’s traumatic events. To show our appreciation and gratitude, we have named the GNAAS as one of our adopted charities.
“Fundraising throughout the next academic year will support the fantastic work carried out by the crews on a daily basis.
“On behalf of the children, families and staff at St Bede’s, I would like, once again, to express my sincere and heartfelt thanks for your services last week.”
The school will hold fundraising events to raise money for the air ambulance and hand over a cheque to the charity at the end of the year.
Mandy Drake, head of fundraising at GNAAS said: “This was a difficult rescue and very traumatic for those involved. We are just thankful the outcome wasn’t even worse.
“It costs around £4m to keep our aircraft flying, every penny of which is raised by the public. We are therefore incredibly grateful to the school for this support and we wish them every success in their upcoming fundraisers.”
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