Businesses from across the country raised £1,500 for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity at an annual event, hosted by a Shropshire company.
Caradoc Medical Services, based in Shrewsbury, hosted their annual supplier day at Shrewsbury Town’s Greenhous Meadow on June 30.
Caradoc is the sister company of the not-for-profit, out of hours provider Shropshire Doctors Co-operative (ShropDoc).
Initially set up to negotiate better buying terms for ShropDoc and local GP practices, Caradoc has grown into a national buying consortium and now works with a range of businesses including dentists, osteopaths, therapists and care homes.
Peter Masters, business manager, said: “We work with suppliers every day to negotiate better buying terms for our members, and profits are fed back into the NHS.
“At the 2016 supplier day we wanted to raise money for a medical charity and as our theme of the day was ‘Caradoc on the Up’ the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity was our first thought.
“The charity does such a fantastic, and essential job, that we wanted to raise as much as we could to support them.”
The conference and awards event included a game of charity heads and tails, a raffle and an auction – which resulted in £1,500 being raised.
Marcus Watkin, a volunteer with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, spoke to delegates on the day about how the charity saved his life.
Maria Jones, fundraising manager for the charity, also attended to meet the Caradoc suppliers and tell them more about the organisation they were fundraising for.
She said: “It was fantastic to meet so many businesses, from across the country, and to tell them about the work that we do.
“Over fifty percent of the airlifts attended by Midlands Air Ambulance are road traffic accidents, with 77 road incidents attended last month alone and over 46,000 missions flown since the charity began some twenty one years ago. The biking communities fully understand and support the essential work carried out by the charity and how vital it is in saving the lives of motorists every single day.
“Mr Watkin was airlifted in 2002 after a motorbike accident. He spent six weeks in a coma and a year in hospital.
“Despite being in a wheelchair now he is a volunteer for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and is a strong supporter of the Bike4Life Ride Out and Festival.”
Mr Watkin says: “I am here today because Midlands Air Ambulance was my saviour. “Nobody likes to think they would need it but if you ever did, we need to make sure it can be there. Funding is vital to saving lives.”
Caradoc Medical Services launched their new YouTube channel and blog during the supplier day, and will feature information about Midlands Air Ambulance Charity on both after making the organisation their 2016 charity of the year.
Midlands Air Ambulance is the charity responsible for funding and operating three air ambulances serving the communities of six Midlands counties: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands. This constitutes the largest air ambulance operating region in the UK.
Since 1991, the charity has responded to more than 46,000 missions averaging 2,000 per year, making it one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance organisations in the UK.
Peter Masters, of Caradoc Medical Services with Marcus Watkin and Maria Jones of Midlands Air Ambulance.
