Fundraising gala for NI Air Ambulance

Councillor Martin Kearney is to host a gala dinner event with entertainment in April to support the charity which needs £5,500 every day to remain operational, with a helicopter crew, including a doctor and paramedic, flying 365 days a year.

Councillor Kearney revealed the cause is one close to his heart, after his sister had to be airlifted to hospital, at a time when there was no dedicated helicopter emergency service, and that another local beneficiary of the air ambulance, Malachi Cush, has agreed to act as MC for the gala.

“My own family had to call on this service in 2001, when my late sister Mona, a nurse herself at the time in the Mid Ulster Maternity Unit in Magherafelt, went by air ambulance to Birmingham for emergency treatment, and I am sure many other people across Mid Ulster have a story as well about how this life-saving service has impacted on their family and friends.

“As a Council, one of our own employees has benefited from the air ambulance after a serious accident and many local people will recall the incident involving Malachi Cush and Andrew Trotter in Dungannon last summer.

“I am extremely grateful to Malachi for his support for the event, which promises an evening of great entertainment for a very worthy cause”.

To date the Air Ambulance NI has been called out on over 1,300 occasions. Over 50% of taskings are serious road accidents, and a further 10% are agricultural or farming accidents, and it can reach the furthest parts of NI from its base in Lisburn in approximately 25 minutes.

Damien McAnespie, Area Fundraising Manager for Air Ambulance NI Charity, said;“We are absolutely delighted that The Chair of Mid Ulster District Council has chosen to support Air Ambulance NI. Each day we need to raise £5,500 to sustain the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS), so fundraising events like this one are vital.”

The gala event will take place on Saturday 25 April 2020 in the Glenavon House Hotel, Cookstown. To book a ticket or a table for the event, priced £60 per person for dinner and entertainment, with proceeds in aid of Air Ambulance NI, contact the Chair’s Office at Mid Ulster District Council, Tel 03000 132 132.