Leighton Buzzard golfing donations really took off for air ambulance charity, despite coronavirus measures

Christine Rimmer’s year as Captain of the Ladies section of Leighton Buzzard Golf Club hardly got off the ground – but it’s not stopped her raising over £2,000 to help keep an air ambulance in the sky.

Only weeks into her year in office, Christine’s fundraising activities were grounded by government measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

But despite golfing and social events being cancelled as Britain went into lockdown, Christine managed to raise £2,102 which she has now donated to the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) charity

Supporting the Air Ambulance activities was a priority for Christine after club colleague Elizabeth Bluett was flown to Addenbrookes Hospital with serious injuries after an accident in May 2019.

The flight took just 20 minutes before Elizabeth was put into intensive care and later transferred to Luton and District hospital. She has since made a good recovery.

Based in Norwich, the EAAA serves Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Keeping its two helicopters airborne costs over £400,000, making around 300 flights a year. The service, which has a £15m a year fundraising target, will soon be expanded to round-the-clock operations from Norwich airport.

Says community fundraising area manager Barbara McGee: “Flying 24/7 will make the helicopter emergency medical service available to even more people each year, supported by the critical care teams currently available 24/7 by rapid response vehicles.”

Adds Christine, who has now been succeeded as Ladies Captain at the Leighton club by Sandra Carter: “We had to cancel all kind of fundraising activities planned for the year, but thanks to the generosity of club members and other supporters, we have at least been able to help an organisation which provides such valuable support when its most needed.”

During her year in office, Sandra is planning to raise funds to donate to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.