RURAL EXERCISE fans have shown their support for Scotland’s first charity air ambulance.
Members of the Dorothy Dobson exercise class in Newtyle made a £500 donation to Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) for an aircraft that will be based at Perth Airport.
The popular class has been run by Jill Stewart for the past 10 years and attracts about 30 people to the weekly Wharncliffe Hall sessions in the village on the Angus-Perthshire border.
The money for the SCAA donation was raised through a quiz and coffee contributions from participants.
SCAA officials have been delighted with the early response to the £1.5 million campaign, launched in November with the hope the new service will be operational in the spring.
The new air ambulance will operate alongside two publicly-funded helicopters operated by the Scottish Ambulance Service and is aimed at extending the nation’s frontline emergency response capability.
This week it was announced that over the next five years SCAA will receive an annual donation of £20,000 from Stagecoach.
Former paratrooper and Falklands War veteran Tony Banks, chairman of the Balhousie Care Group, has also contributed £50,000.
In addition to the £1.5m needed to launch the twin-engine, multi-purpose Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm aircraft selected for the vital role, the charity, chaired by Perth businessman John Bullough, say a similar sum will be required to run the service each year.
SCAA will be tasked via the existing 999 call systems and operate to SAS clinical protocols.
Further information about the SCAA campaign, which has been backed by The Courier, is available online at scaa.org.uk.