Send a text and help keep Dorset's air ambulance flying (From Bournemouth Echo)

Send a text and help keep Dorset's air ambulance flying

5:00pm Monday 24th September 2012 in News By Caitlin Marsh

DORSET residents are being asked to support National Air Ambulance Week 2012 – which runs from today until Sunday – by using their mobile phones.

The initiative was put together by the Air Ambulance Association (AAA), which unites Air Ambulance charities, the operators and the ambulance services from across the country and aims to give a national voice to local services.

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance are asking people to donate £10 using their phones, by texting DSAA02 £10 to 70070.

Jenson Button, vice-patron of Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, and Sir David Jason, patron of the Air Ambulance Association, have already voiced their support for the campaign.

Bill Sivewright, chief executive officer at Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, says that they are appealing to mobile phone users, by asking them to donate £10 through texts towards the cost of one minute of flying time, which costs £12.50.

He added: “The charity will receive 100 per cent of the donation and rest assured that all money raised will stay locally and help us raise the £1.5million a year it costs to keep the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance flying.”

Since its launch back in March 2000, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance have attended 8,999 emergencies, of which 456 have happened in 2012 alone.

Jenson Button, said: “I have been a vice patron of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance since its formation in March 2000 and since then, I have followed their progress with much admiration.

“I was born in Frome, Somerset, a rural part of the county serviced by the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance and I regularly saw first-hand its importance to the local community.

“Many of my family and friends still reside within the two counties and it is reassuring to know that they are in safe hands.”

Sir David Jason, said: “I am honoured to be fronting the very first united National Air Ambulance Week campaign across the UK.

He added: “It is vitally important that we spread the word that air ambulance charities up and down the UK are not Government funded and rely on public donations to remain operational.

“Every day, lives are being saved by the highly skilled air ambulance crews.”

For more information, go to dsairambulance.org.uk