Education
We believe in educating our younger supporters about the Devon Air Ambulances – both the service and the charitable trust. After all they are the fundraisers of the future – and several of them are fundraising already either by themselves or with their school or youth organisation, such as Cubs and Brownies. 
Junior Crew Club member Alistair Bibbie (left) has raised over £1,000 for the charity to date. This has been raised from a young age, when he decided instead of having birthday presents, to ask for donations for DAAT. He is just one of many young fundraisers the charity has.
Junior Crew Club
We currently have over 350 junior crew club members, whose ages range from 0 to 15.
Would you like to join our Crew?
Why not become one of our Crew Clubbers? 
Or get your Brownies, Beavers, Cubs, Guides or Scouts to join as a group at only £1 per person per year.
When you join you can work your way through our badge scheme if you wish.
You can take as long as you want to earn your three badges. Perhaps you are part of a Club and they want to introduce it as a project?
If you are at home and want to do the scheme by yourself please ask your parents/guardian to explain the scheme and then set you a timetable.
The three levels are:
- Bronze Level - Volunteer
- Silver Level - Paramedic
- Gold Level - Pilot
Once you have completed all the project tasks you will get your book signed by us and then receive your a badge and other rewards.
Bronze level – VOLUNTEER/STAFF
We have 14+ staff members and 250+ volunteers working hard for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.
Without their support and hard work the helicopter would not fly so they are very important to us.
Projected Tasks:
- Raise £10 by doing something worthwhile at home each week
- Draw a picture of the helicopter and send it to us
- Try a new hobby and tell us about it.
Write a short story with drawings or photos, (if you want!) and send it to us
Your Reward:
You will receive a signed poster of our helicopter and a thank you certificate. You will also get your bronze badge!
Silver level – PARAMEDIC
Each mission the helicopter flies, two paramedics are on board to help the patient and ensure they get to hospital with the best possible care.
Projected Tasks:
- Raise £10 by doing something important in your house each week
- Write a story about the work of a paramedic and what you think they have to do when they help a patient. You can either look up some details in your local library or on the internet. If not you can make the story up in your own words about a mission and the job of the paramedic. Remember to include a place in Devon where the helicopter might have flown to and the hospital the patient was taken to.
- Included in your pack is basic first aid information. Read your first aid book and complete the quiz.
Your Reward:
Send off your completed work. You will get a signed poster of a paramedic, your silver badge and details on what they carry on board.
Gold level – PILOT
The Devon Air Ambulance has three pilots. They undertake years of training before becoming a pilot and have to be able to fly in all weather conditions. They also have to land in difficult, rural places throughout Devon. Being able to land in these challenging places shows how important your Air Ambulances are.
Projected Tasks:
- Write a story about an Air Ambulance mission telling us why you would make a good pilot and what sort of mission you would like to fly – including places to land, weather conditions and patients picked up.
- Do something useful for a relative or a friend and raise £10
- Draw a map of Devon showing well known landmarks (ie Dartmoor)
Your Reward:
A signed poster of a pilot, gold badge and details on how he flies the helicopter.
Congratulations. . .
You are now a pilot!
Educational Talks
Our Education Officer, Piers le Cheminant, is invited to schools to give talks and a video presentation about the work of Devon’s Air Ambulances and the charity. This is a service which is offered free of charge.
If your school or youth group ie Beavers, Rainbows etc would like a talk from Piers simply contact us and Piers will get in touch.
HeliBags
Since September 2006 we have also been running a recycling scheme called HeliBags, involving many of the county’s primary schools. Piers attends assembly or class and talks about the charity, but also the importance of recycling and helping our environment.
He leaves each pupil with a red sack and information leaflet, asking if they can go home and with the help of their parents or guardians put unwanted items in there that could be sold in one of our charity shops. These items vary from clothing to bric-a-brac, books and games.
Collected items (picked up by Bob in his van - see photo) are sorted, checked and priced and sent to one of the charity’s nine shops for onward sale.
Items unwanted in the home where they come from, are going to a new homes where they really are wanted.
This is a wonderful way of recycling goods which may otherwise have ended up on a landfill site and raising funds for DAAT at the same time.
There are many other items that can be recycled in order to raise the charity money. To find out more click here
