Dance teacher raises £700 for air ambulance charity with raffles
A dance teacher has donated £700 to the Wales Air Ambulance after holding popular raffles during dance holidays that she organised.
Wendy Thomas-Parkes and musician Tony Roberts organise around five holidays for ballroom/sequence dancing each year, where they raise funds for good causes via their raffle.
Throughout the years the dancing holidays raised funds for a number of good causes in Wales and in Shropshire, including the air ambulance charities, Severn Hospice and Lingen Davies Cancer Appeal.
Wendy, who is from Abermule and works for the NHS in Shrewsbury, holds ballroom/sequence dance classes every Tuesday between 1-3pm at Church Aston Village Hall in Newport. Tony and Wendy are also starting Learn Jive and tuition of sequence dancing in March.
Included in the amount raised from the dancing holiday raffles was £300 that was donated in memory of Wendy’s father, Richard – also known as “Gonga”, who passed away in July.
She added: “I decided to put the donations we received after my father passed away together with the raffle money and give it to the Wales Air Ambulance. Tony and I organise the dance holidays and we usually raise around £600 for different charities.
“We give to the air ambulance because we think it's one of the best causes and helps many people who live in the Country.”
Wales Air Ambulance offers advanced critical care and is often described as a ‘Flying ED’. The on-board consultants and critical care practitioners are highly skilled and carry some of the most pioneering medical equipment in the world. They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthesia, and undertake emergency operations at the scene of the incident, before flying the patient directly to specialist care.
Now operational 24/7, the charity needs to raise £8 million every year to keep the helicopters flying.
Dougie Bancroft, Wales Air Ambulance’s community fundraiser, said: “A huge thank you to everyone who donated towards the successful raffle during the dance holidays. Over the years the raffles have raised money for a variety of different charities, which is fantastic. We’re delighted that our lifesaving charity was chosen to benefit from the raffles. Your support is greatly appreciated.
“It was very kind of Wendy to ask for donations to the Wales Air Ambulance in memory of her father Richard. The Wales Air Ambulance now operates 24/7, seven days a week and donations like this are vital. By keeping our helicopters in the air we can continue to take the emergency department to the patient, saving time and saving lives.”
