Press release

12August 2019

 Rotary club in aerodrome visit 

Local Rotarians found out more about the life-saving work of Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex when they had a behind the scenes tour of the charity's operations base at Redhill Aerodrome. 

Members of the Redhill Redstone Rotary club met with crews and had a chance to get up close and personal with the state-of-the-art helicopters.

AAKSS is able to reach any part of its region in 25 minutes and is funded almost entirely by public donation and fundraising. The service is an essential, life-saving branch of the three counties' emergency medical care - last year, the charity flew 2,500 missions.

Robert Bogin, Redhill Redstone Rotary Club, said: "We support Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex as it is a service any one of us could need at any time. It's an incredibly worthwhile cause and we thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the time the staff and crew took out of their day to show us around and explain their work in further detail.

 "We will continue to support the air ambulance and would encourage others to do the same."

Formed in 1990, the Redhill Redstone Rotary Club, which currently has 29 members, raises money for local, national, and international charities as well as community projects and good causes. The money is raised through various events, the most high-profile of these being the Reigate Tunnel Beer Festival, held in May each year.

Along with static and street collections, the club also hold an event with Santa's sleigh each December and organises quizzes and other ad hoc events throughout the year.

To find out how you can support the air ambulance, including details of its upcoming open air cinema event at Gatwick Aviation Museum, and travelling car raffle, visit www.aakss.org.uk.

For more information on the Redhill Redstone Rotary Club and their work, visit www.redhillredstonerotary.org.

For further information please contact:

•          Andrew Metcalf or Alice Burgess at Maxim, tel: 01892 513033

•         Email:Andrew@Maxim-pr.co.uk/Alice@maxim-pr.co.uk

Notes to Editors

•          Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS) is a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) that operates out of Redhill and Rochester

•          AAKSS serves a population of 4.7m people plus those that travel through the area

•          Its crews of pilots/co-pilots operate three helicopters and fly 2,500 missions a year with on-board medical assistance provided by doctors and paramedics

•          It was the first UK Air Ambulance to operate its helicopters 24/7

•          Of the more than £11m needed to sustain the service, 92% is raised by public donation and fundraising with the remaining 8% provided by the NHS

For further information visit: www.aakss.org.uk.