Ok, so those of you who know me will know that I don't even walk anywhere never mind run - so this could be fun for you all to watch!  You will also know that I fly, so the Air Ambulance has a special meaning for me... (one day it will be my toy, maybe).

So I plan to run (not walk) the 5km course of their Hero's Run @ Stoneleigh Park on the 23rd May 2010 to raise some money for them.

I am reliably informed that my initial estimate of what 5km is was a little low - apparently it isn't the length of The Parade... so I shall be doing some training before I do this.  I'd like to think between us we could raise a healthy amount for this vital service.

Please dig deep and donate generously... remember that the Air Ambulance receives no government or national lottery funding at all - it is entirely kept operating by donations.  You may need it one day and without your donation it won't be there!  (Also, if you're a tax payer then click the GiftAid box and we can get some money back from Gordy too!)

A little bit about the WNAA:

WNAA is one of very few services outside London to routinely carry a Doctor on board. Our primary response area is the 2000 square miles of Coventry, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and some of the key border areas like Market Harborough, Banbury and Solihull. We also help out our neighbours under a mutual aid agreement in Birmingham, the West Midlands, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

The service has 15 Doctors, 15 Paramedics & 6 Pilots who service a population of around 1.2 million people. Based at Coventry Airport, in the five years it has been operating, it has flown over 7000 missions. With an ever-increasing callout rate of between 120 and 150  per month, WNAA is the busiest air ambulance in the UK.

No Government or National Lottery Funding!

WNAA is a registered charity and relies totally on public donations, fundraising activities and sponsorship. The average cost per mission is around £1000 and the annual basic running cost of the service is over £1.5 million. Currently only able to operate in daylight hours due to the restrictive leasing costs of flying at night, WNAA aims to become the first service in the UK to operate 24 hours per day.

For more info about The Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance you can view their website at http://www.wnaa.co.uk