Family-owned Dorset brewer, Hall & Woodhouse, has raised £268,365 in aid of eight local air ambulance charities in the past two years.

At the beginning of 2018, H&W’s team members voted to make eight air ambulance charities their official charity partner until 2020. Through the partnership, Devon Air Ambulance Trust, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Kent Surrey Sussex Air Ambulance, London’s Air Ambulance, Thames Valley Air Ambulance and Wiltshire Air Ambulance are all equal beneficiaries of the amount raised.

53 pubs raised the funds to help 8 air ambulance charities

Over the past two years, 53 pubs in H&W’s managed house estate across the south, came together to raise as much money as possible through a variety of fundraising initiatives such as quiz nights, sponsored events, family fund days and challenge events.

H&W holds its annual Dorset Beer Festival in June, which sees members of the community enjoy beer, live music and locally produced food at the Blandford Brewery. Over the course of the two-year partnership this particular event raised £23,000.

In recognition of National Air Ambulance week, which takes place in September every year, more than 30 team members from 11 different H&W pubs bravely undertook an abseil decent of the Spinnaker Tower. Participants in the nerve-racking 170 metre descent, included teams from The Lulworth Cove Inn, The Crown Hotel in Blandford and The Old Granary in Wareham. All participating in the challenge helped to raise over £5,000 in the process.

A community effort

Additionally, over £25,500 was raised by 38 houses featuring a ‘charity dish’ on their pub menu over a 12-month period. 25p from the sale of each dish went towards the charity partnership when guests purchased Ham, Egg and Chips.

Lucinda Gray, Company Charity Champion of H&W, said:

We are absolutely thrilled to have raised such a tremendous amount for eight local air ambulance charities. We set ourselves the ambitious target of raising £250,000 over the two years, but with their dedication, kindness and teamwork I am incredibly proud and humbled that our team have smashed this.

Our houses and the team at the Brewery in Blandford have worked tremendously hard to stay on track of this target and we are grateful for their support. They have enabled us to give back to the local communities in which the air ambulance charities serve. Every penny we raise will allow them to

continue saving lives, further enhance their operations, or purchase new items of specialist equipment which could help keep someone alive until they reach hospital.

The Hall & Woodhouse team at the Brewery in Blandford  worked tremendously hard to stay on track of this target, raised by local communities who wanted to give back to the air ambulance charities that serve them. Every penny raises helps the charities to continue saving lives, enhance operations, or purchase new items of specialist equipment.

Devon Air Ambulance Fundraising Manager, Tracy Owen, added:

We’re incredibly grateful to Hall & Woodhouse for their support over the past two years. Over recent years we’ve significantly developed our service with the introduction of night flying and the upskilling of our aircrew through a Master’s degree in pre-hospital critical care, which enables our team to deliver treatment at the scene of an incident which traditionally was only available once at the hospital. This has only been possible  thanks to the generous donations we receive.

A big thanks to our incredible business supporters who work hard to help keep the region's air ambulances flying. Are you a business who'd like to lend your support? We'd love to hear from you. Contact [email protected] to discuss your fundraiser.