Road Club raises £1589 for NI Air Ambulance Charity!

Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Road Club cyclists raise £1589 for Air Ambulance NI charity.

Six representatives of Ballymena Road Club – McCool’s Phoenix Centra – travelled to the operating base of the Air Ambulance NI charity at the Maze near Lisburn last Tuesday evening.

They were there to meet the charity’s head of fundraising Kerry Anderson and to present a cheque for £1589 which was the proceeds from the club’s "Reunion Tour” series of cycle rides. The series took place over ten weeks from 25th September until 27th November 2021 and marked a return of activities from the club’s Rex Bonar House headquarters following relaxation of the enforced Covid lockdown restrictions.

The bulk of the charity donations were made via the "Just Giving” webpage while the balance of cash donations was presented on Tuesday evening.

As usual local cyclists proved once again to be very generous and their support is greatly appreciated.

Those present to represent the Road Club were David Dougan (Chairman) Alastair Petticrew (Treasurer) and reunion tour group leaders Philip Morrison, Gerry McCullagh, Pius McKernan and Richard Wilson.
The Air Ambulance have two helicopters based at the Maze and the cyclists were not only able to view the one in the hanger but had the added treat of witnessing the second aircraft fly in and land on the helipad, having just returned from an emergency call out.
Kerry Anderson explained the roll of the Air Ambulance NI charity. "We work in partnership with the NI ambulance service to provide the helicopter emergency medical service for the region. Every day in Northern Ireland two people find themselves in critical need of AANI. We operate 12 hours per day 365 days per year. Our EC135 helicopter can reach anywhere in the Province in approximately 25 – 30 minutes. This rapid response is vital in an emergency situation because if a patient reaches hospital within the golden hour (60 minutes after their injury) their chances of survival are dramatically increased.

It costs £5500 each day, £2M per year, to keep the air ambulance service operational. We rely entirely on support from the public and local businesses, including gifts in wills. Thank you everyone for your tremendous support” concluded Kerry.