Uckfield shoppers help air ambulance to save lives

Shoppers in Uckfield have helped the air ambulance save lives.

The £798.94 collected by staff and volunteers at Tesco helped the East Sussex collection at supermarkets reach £9,860 during Air Ambulance Week in September.

The week also included Funky Footwear Friday when staff and pupils at schools, colleges and businesses donated £1 each to don their most colourful and crazy shoes and boots.

East Sussex County Fundraiser Bridget Pepper said: “We collected £1,500 more than last year thanks to our small but willing band of volunteers who manned the posts outside many stores.

“It was such a pleasure to meet the shoppers, many of whom had knowledge of friends or family members who had been helped by the Air Ambulance.

“A lot of people thought we were funded by central government, so it was a wonderful opportunity to spread the word that we are a charity reliant on public support to keep going.”

Just over £200 was raised at Tesco, Lewes.

Sussex Air Ambulance needs £1.7m-a-year to keep the helicopter flying and receives no National Lottery funding.

Each flying mission costs between £1,500 and £2,000 so the sum raised from Air Ambulance Week has helped to potentially save six lives.