Helicopter POD in Festival Place (From This is Hampshire)
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Fundraising for National Air Ambulance Week
3:00pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News By Gazette reporter
THE CHANCE to try flying an ambulance without leaving the ground will be available in Basingstoke’s Festival Place shopping centre on Saturday.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) will be bringing its Helicopter POD to the centre as part of the fundraising National Air Ambulance Week.
Visitors will be able to make donations and find out more about HIOWAA and its associated charities.
Flying an average of four to five missions every day, the air ambulance is estimated to incur operational costs of £3,600 for every day it flies – a figure that is only raised through donations.
HIOWAA chief executive John Perry said: “We receive no funding from the Government or the National Lottery for operational purposes, and so we rely on the generosity of the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to maintain the service.”
HIOWAA has flown 3,946 missions in its first five years, many of which have saved lives.
Ten fundraising events will be taking place across the region for air ambulance week. For details of all fundraising events across the county, visit hiow- airambulance.org.uk.
