A great year of fundraising brought to a spectacular conclusion

Posted on January 5, 2023 | Charity

THROUGHOUT 2022, the team at Russell Armer Homes and sister company Genesis Homes pulled out all the stops to raise as much money for life-saving charity the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

And all staff, guests and business associates had the most fantastic night as we were treated to show stopping performances from acrobats, circus performers, stilt walkers, singers and dancers at our recent Bohemian Ball.

The event, held at Carlisle Racecourse, was a fitting finale for 12 months of extraordinary fundraising efforts from our teams as, with the money raised at the ball added to the various activities held throughout the year, we raised just under £13,000 for the GNAAS.

The GNAAS is a truly life-saving service which is dependent on donations from the public, so to be able to support the amazing and inspirational work it carries out every day of the year is extremely fulfilling.

Members of our team have experienced first-hand how vital the work of the air ambulance is in emergency situations and we were keen to raise as much money as possible throughout the year to ensure the crews can continue to save lives.

It’s with thanks to members of the public, our staff and attendees of the Bohemian Ball that we have managed to raise so much to donate to the cause, and we are thrilled that all our events have been so well supported.

To help boost the fundraising total, our staff members have organised a number of activities including bake offs, golf competitions and a sponsored 20-mile walk around Ullswater Way.

In July, eight members of the team cycled in a relay format to and from some of the company’s completed or ongoing housing developments, covering a combined distance of 80 miles.

Celebrating its 20th birthday in 2021, the GNAAS operates throughout Cumbria, the North East and North Yorkshire and is called out to thousands of emergencies each year. The estimated annual cost of operations is £7.7m, with the average cost of each call-out around £4,500. All of its funding comes from public donations.

We were honoured to host Lee Salmon, the Head of Operations in the West for GNAAS, who was very complimentary of our fundraising efforts.

He said: “GNAAS is a charity with a strategic aim to impact more in our communities, saving more lives, reducing individuals suffering and giving immediate access to highly trained critical care teams and techniques.

“We aren’t a government-funded asset so we are reliant on many forms of fundraising, from personal to corporate support, and Genesis Homes set the bar extremely high in 2022.

“Despite the current economic crisis, the entire Genesis team, customers and collaborators have supported GNAAS with several superb events.  I’m truly humbled by the lengths the team at Genesis has gone to in aid of GNAAS and my hope is that our teams go on to save many more lives because of this fantastic financial support Genesis Homes has given.”

After such a successful year of fundraising for the GNAAS, we are now looking forward to raising as much money for Annie Mawson MBE’s Sunbeams Music Trust.

This amazing charity, founded by Cumbrian harpist and singer Annie Mawson MBE 30 years ago, provides community music therapy to children and adults with a wide range of disabilities and complex medical needs.

For more information on the charity, visit www.sunbeamsmusic.org.