Following the School’s latest donation to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA), Walhampton’s Parents' Association Chair was invited for a tour of the charity’s Headquarters and to meet the team behind the Helicopter and ground crew.

The Walhampton Parents' Association (WPA) has put on a series of events, including the annual summer auction and popular Fireworks evening in the autumn to raise £6,630 for the charity. The active committee of parent volunteers have been busy planning more events throughout the year to continue its fundraising efforts, starting with the much anticipated roller disco happening this weekend!

WPA Chair, Corrie Parkhouse, was delighted to hand over the donation in an official cheque presentation. Corrie enthused: “We are proud to support this charity, voted for by the children of Walhampton School. The Air Ambulance team do such amazing work across such a wide area of Hampshire and on the Isle of Wight and it’s been fascinating to find out more about what they do. We are fortunate to have brilliant parent support for our events and I want to thank our school community for their continued generosity.”

Keith Wilson, Director of Income and Engagement at HIOWAA, said: “We are excited by the partnership with Walhampton, the donation today has helped pay for two missions, which could mean we’re able to save two lives. We currently have one helicopter and three cars to assist with life threatening incidents across the counties and as we don’t receive any government funding, we rely solely on donations to cover our £9m annual operating costs. As part of our engagement work we love to get involved at community events to help raise awareness about the important work our crews do around the clock. We are very much looking forward to bringing our new simulator to the school later this year and challenging the children to beat our pilot!”

The Air Ambulance has a regular programme of events and challenges - you can find out more about their activities and also donate here