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Celebrity chef and TV star Rustie Lee serves up her support for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity
Celebrity chef and TV superstar, Rustie Lee, is the latest high profile TV star to lend her support to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, to help raise awareness of the charity's lifesaving work.
2016 marks the ‘Air25' 25th anniversary of the vitally important emergency pre-hospital service provided by Midlands Air Ambulance Charity. Due to one of the first air ambulance services in the country, named ‘Air 5' with just one helicopter flying out of a temporary airbase five days a week, Midlands Air Ambulance is proud of its heritage. The charity now has three helicopters serving a population of six million people, and to date the service has responded to over 43,000 missions.
The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's most recent ‘Celebrity Supporter', Rustie Lee, has confirmed her attendance at the charity's high profile Air25 Recognition Awards and Charity Ball, sponsored by Concept Resourcing, at Edgbaston Stadium on the 8th July 2016, where she will be joined by other charity ambassadors and celebrity supporters from the world of sport and entertainment.
Rustie Lee said, ""Midlands Air Ambulance Charity are real lifesavers, incredibly professional and hard working. Imagine yourself in a multiple car crash on a motorway or an accident where you need to get to hospital quickly. That's where the air ambulance becomes invaluable." Rustie continued to say that the reason she supports the charity is because "they are saving lives every day of the year".
Rustie Lee grew up in Birmingham, the UK's second city, in the heart of the Midlands. She studied at the Birmingham College of Food and Domestic Science where she then went on to graduate with a distinction as a Master Baker. This powerful and driven woman worked at her family's Caribbean Bakery, and later set up Rustie's - the first ever Caribbean Silver Service restaurant on Soho Road in Handsworth. It was there that Rustie hit fame after being spotted by BBC producers of the Pebble Mill who invited her to showcase Caribbean food for her very first TV appearance.
Jason Levy, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity said: "Rustie is a much loved and popular character from the Midlands. We are thrilled she is supporting the lifesaving work of our charity and look forward to welcoming her at this year's commemorative Recognition Awards and Charity Ball where we will be celebrating 25 years of Saving Lives by Saving Time."
To book your place at the AIR25 Charity Ball and Recognition Awards, go to www.midlandsairambulance.com
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Notes to Editors:
For more information, quotes or images, please contact Chloe Garner at Yogurt Top Marketing on:
Tel: 01543 439 239
Email: pa@yogurttopmarketing.co.uk
More information about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity:
• Who are we? Midlands Air Ambulance serves the largest air ambulance region in the UK. This includes the communities of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire; representing a population in excess of six million.
• What do we do? The charity now responds to an average of 2,000 missions each year (approximately six per day) making Midlands air ambulance one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance operators in the UK.
• In 2016, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity celebrates its Air25, 25th anniversary. Launched in May 1991 as ‘Air5', the charity was one of the first air ambulance services in the country and had just one helicopter flying out of a temporary airbase five days a week. Now, the charity has three helicopters serving a population of six million people, and has responded to over 43,000 missions to date.
• As part of its commitment to patient care Midlands Air Ambulance has extended its flying times from 7am until 9pm throughout the year. The service aims to introduce night operations to reach those who need urgent medical treatment during the hours of darkness.
• Every year Midlands Air Ambulance crew attend over 1,000 road traffic accidents on some of the most congested motorway networks in the country.
• The Golden Hour: If a patient reaches hospital within 60 minutes of injury, their chances of survival are dramatically increased. All areas of the region are accessible in 19 minutes and 90% of the region is accessible within eight minutes.
• The cost: Each year it costs in excess of £7 million just to keep the three charity helicopters operational. The charity receives no funding from the government or National Lottery so relies entirely on the support and generosity of local people and businesses.
• Our bases & crew: The three air ambulance helicopters are based at Cosford airbase, near Shifnal Shropshire (covering Shropshire and the West Midlands), Tatenhill airbase, near Burton-on-Trent Staffordshire (covering Staffordshire and the West Midlands), and Strensham Services on the M5 in Worcestershire (covering Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire).
• The charity's three aircraft each carry a crew comprising a pilot, two paramedics or flight doctors plus full life-support medical equipment.