Inverurie Rotarian's show their support for the local air ambulance
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AN annual fundraising event organised by Inverurie Rotarians has provided a much welcomed boost for the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA).
Rotarian Peter Donaldson said: "For a number of years Inverurie Rotary club has organised a charity fundraising dinner where WAGS, meaning funny men /women pronounced locally as WA—gs, a long drawn out aa, compete as after dinner speakers.
"This goes on for four years then, there is a WAG of WAGs competition in year five.
"This year many will know of the winner, local quine Debbie Leslie who stole the show.
"The proceeds of these fundraising events are donated to charities. "This year club members voted that the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance unit based at Dyce airport would receive half the proceeds of this years event."
He continued: "A number of our members, 10 in all, attended the presentation of our cheque for £7500 to the air ambulance unit.
"The helicopter is very impressive and is provided by Babcock who also employ the pilots on a rota basis, but like everything else all costs are recharged to the charity.
"We were treated to a detailed inspection of the helicopter by the on duty team including exceptionally knowledgeable and pilot, Pete Winn served who spent 12 years in the RAF where he flew much larger Chinook helicopter so the paramedics and all those who fly with him are in very good hands.
"The smaller 'Apache' does have two very efficient jet engines which provide more than sufficient thrust to support the pilot, a paramedic in the front left hand seat, pilot sits on the right, and behind them a further seat for either another paramedic or doctor and an amazing swivel stretcher for the injured patient.
"We met the two paramedics on duty, Claire Allan who received our cheque on behalf of the SCAA, and Ewan Littlejohn a young paramedic who hails from Port Elphinstone.
"For some of us aviation buffs Pete pointed out a number of special safety features like the inflatable floats on the skids and special wire cutting equipment below the main rotor."
One of its most recent calls saw the unit land on Bennachie to help a woman with a broken ankle.
