Donations to the East Anglian Air Ambulance from clients of a car auction business have whirled through the £8000 barrier.For the past three years, Norwich-based East Anglian Motor Auctions has requested a £1 donation when giving out catalogues for its twice-weekly sales. The simple scheme has proved a massive success, and now the life-saving charity - which is looking to replace its ageing helicopter - is urging other businesses in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to join its list of supporters. “We are enormously grateful to East Anglian Motor Auctions and to all the other businesses who support us,” said air ambulance executive director Simon Gray.“Our existing air ambulance is 27 years old and costs £65,000 a month to operate. We are in the process of trying to acquire a new, larger helicopter within the next one to three years, and we estimate that will cost between £2.5m and £4m. We get no government or National Lottery money so we are totally run by the donations of businesses and individuals in the counties we serve. We attend an average of four incidents a day, and the majority of them are motoring accidents, so the support of East Anglian Motor Auctions is, in that sense, especially appropriate.”He added: “We would love to hear from other businesses who can help us. It’s a worthy cause, and it’s also been shown that firms who support us tend to pick up more business as a result.”The East Anglian Air Ambulance was founded in 2000, and aims to get patients to hospital within “the golden hour”. By making lengthy journeys in just minutes the chances of a full recovery are in many cases greatly enhanced.Chris Beckett, managing director of East Anglian Motor Auctions, said the Aylsham Road-based business expected to present the air ambulance with another cheque for £4000 by the end of the year - taking its total contributions to the £12,000 mark.“It’s one of our favourite charities, but essentially it’s our customers who are making the donations and I know they’re happy to do that,” said Mr Beckett.“Everyone knows of the air ambulance and the vital work it does. By the nature of our business the kind of people who come to our auctions are the kind of people who travel around a lot. When it comes to accidents on the roads we all know that one day it could be ourselves, or one of our family or friends, that the air ambulance is coming to help.”“It’s a cause we are pleased to support, and if the air ambulance is to acquire a new helicopter it would obviously give them a big boost if as many businesses as possible could help them on the way.”Further details on the East Anglian Air Ambulance can be found by visiting www.eastanglianairambulance.org.uk

Posted: 08|31|05 at 5:02 pm. Filed under: UK News.