MARK Wilkins of the County Air Ambulance Trust was our guest speaker when we met on Thursday, January 29 at the Evesham Rowing Club Boathouse.

As none of our members had ever had to call on the services of the Air Ambulance helicopters, we were fascinated to learn how it operates.

Mark began by describing his own experiences of flying helicopters whilst in the armed forces and as a commercial pilot in Nigeria, the North Sea, Singapore and for the AA. Now retired, he is a fundraiser for the West Midlands Air Ambulance Trust.

With many hilarious anecdotes, he explained that we now have 6 helicopters covering the West Midlands, each of which costs £1.5 million a year to operate. As a charity, they do not receive any help from Government or the National Lottery and are entirely dependent upon voluntary contributions. The helicopters carry two para medics, are airborne within two minutes and get to any incident within 19 minutes. Whilst 60 per cent of incidents involve road traffic accidents others include accidents involving horses, farms and sport. They also transfer patients and human organs. They average two or three calls a day. A major difficulty is the accessibility for landing, not least at some of our hospitals where car parks seem to take priority.

Rex Colwell thanked Mark on our behalf and echoed our admiration for the service. Mark thanked the Club and individual members for our generous financial donations.

Our next meetings at Rowing Club Boathouse will be on February 5 when Bob Young will present Hydraulics with Frolics and then fellow member Nigel Jenkins will inspire us with his story of poor old farmers on February 12. Do join us.

CHRIS DONOUGH