(PRWEB) March 17, 2006 -- A cheque for £4,103 has flown into the hands of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) on behalf of EGGER UK employees.
“ The amount of money we raised in the raffle broke last year’s record by a few hundred pounds, which is a measure of how well people regard the air ambulance servic... ”
The money was partly raised by the company’s Christmas Raffle, which is organised by EGGER’s Charity Committee, and partly by a donation from the company, Europe’s leading wood-based panel products manufacturer.
The cheque was received on behalf of GNAAS by Brian Cave, a fundraiser for the organisation, who said: “We now have three helicopters, based in Cumbria, Teesside and Northumberland and the service is available 365 days a year. The average flight time for patients flown from the scene of an emergency to the nearest trauma centre is only 10 minutes. That time-saving journey could mean the difference between life and death. Today, however, it costs around £750,000 a year to keep each aircraft flying so donations such as this from EGGER are vital to keep us in the air.”
Handing over the cheque, Bob Livesey, Joint Managing Director (Commercial) of EGGER UK and chairman of the Hexham plant’s Charity Committee said: “The EGGER Charity Committee raises money and provides support for locally based charities and community youth initiatives. Following suggestions from employees and the publicity of the fundraising needs for a vital emergency service, we took the decision that the focus for our Christmas charitable donation should be channelled to supporting the GNAAS. The amount of money we raised in the raffle broke last year’s record by a few hundred pounds, which is a measure of how well people regard the air ambulance service. I would like to thank everyone for their generosity. In addition, the company itself takes its social responsibilities very seriously and supplemented the fund raising efforts by a further £2,000."
An extra £500 was also donated to the Great North Air Ambulance Service thanks to Egger but it came from the Central Employment Agency. The CEA had asked companies for charity suggestions and EGGER’s nomination for GNAAS was first pulled from the hat.
