TWO new charities will be benefitting from the support of the Bournemouth Air Festival this year.

As usual, each brochure sold at the event will include a charity wristband and a £1 donation to the good causes being supported.

To date, various organisations have benefitted to the tune of more than £60,000 through brochure sales and other fundraising activities, such as the Patrons 100 Club, made up of businesses who provide financial support to the festival.

This year, two new charities will join the Jon Egging Trust and the Royal Navy Royal Marines Charity.

They are the Not Forgotten Association, which provides entertainment, leisure and recreation for the serving wounded, injured or sick and for ex-service men and women with disabilities, and the British Lung Foundation, which raises funds for the fight against lung disease.

Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “It is an honour to be a chosen charity of the Bournemouth Air Festival this year.

“The money raised during the festival will help the BLF to continue to invest in vital research into lung conditions, such as lung cancer and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), as well as our support for people currently living with lung conditions throughout the UK.”

Phil Jenkins, from the Not Forgotten Association, added: “We are delighted to be recognised and nominated as a 2014 air festival charity.

“Being a small team of only seven, it’s an amazing opportunity for us and we are incredibly grateful to have a wonderfully loyal group of supporters at the Air Festival who really recognise the value of our work.”

The air festival brochure is on sale now and is available from Daily Echo offices, shops around the area and the Bournemouth Tourism Information Centre in advance and around the festival site over the event, between August 28-31.

The Daily Echo’s book celebrating the first five years of the festival is also still on sale. Visit bournemouthecho.co.uk /books and follow the links, or call the subscriptions department on 01305 830924 to order by credit or debit card.

Read lots more in our air festival section online at bournemouthecho.co.uk/air and, for mobile users, at bit.ly/bmthair

Prizes to snap up

PHOTOGRAPHERS of all ages are invited to take part in the Daily Echo/Castle Cameras air festival photographic competition during the four-day extravaganza, which gets under way on Thursday, August 28.

There are two categories, adult and junior (16 and under), and we want you to submit one picture that you feel captures the essence of the air festival 2014.

The adult prize is £300 of Castle Cameras vouchers and budding young photographers will compete for a chance to win a red Canon Powershot SX 280 HS. Once you have chosen your best image (only one entry per person) send us an email with your name, age (for juniors only), address and phone number to airfest2014@bournemouthecho.co.uk The file should be as large as possible, at least 500kb and state in the subject heading either ‘Adult Air Festival comp’ or ‘Junior Air Festival Comp’.

We will display our favourite images in a gallery at bournemouthecho.co.uk/air and the deadline for entries is Friday, September 5.