Events round-up

Thank you to everyone who has organised or attended events, in person or virtually, to raise money for KSS. Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, look what you have achieved!

Supercars show their might for KSS Pooch power for KSS!

A supercar and classic car display in Maidstone jointly organised by Tyrepoint and Kent Car Meets raised over £2K! Visitors came from across the county to admire the range of over 80 cars on show. The organisers charged £2 for admission and donated all proceeds to us. Mark from Tyrepoint chose to support KSS as we had helped to save his friend’s life following an accident the previous year.

We are so incredibly grateful to everyone. Every pound raised helps us to remain fully operational 24/7, ensuring we can be there for people across our regions in their hour of need.

Helene Poursain

Director of Fundraising and Events, KSS Paws up to our fabulous fundraisers and their canine companions who took part on our Hound Hike 100 in May. Kindly sponsored by Fidelity International, the event raised over £21K with over 650 people and around 800 dogs taking part.

KSS Riders raise over £30K!

Kindly sponsored by Fidelity International, our first ‘hybrid’ event gave horse-lovers the opportunity to join us for KSS Ride, live at the Kent Showground from 21st-22nd August, or virtually from their own location.

More than 100 young equestrians aged from just 20 months took part in the Inky Dinky Ride, raising over £18K. The idea came from horselover Rosalind and her two young children, who, wanted to find a fun way to raise funds for a cause that matters to all equestrians.

The ride was all about having fun. However, we all know, that when horse riding accidents happen, they are often in remote locations that can only be reached by an Air Ambulance.

Rosalind

School struts their stuff to raise vital funds

After the pandemic scuppered plans for a charity fun run, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys held a virtual fancy dress dance extravaganza instead, to raise funds for KSS. The virtual dance-off was opened up to the whole school, including students, families and staff. Alongside the fun, the dance, smashed the school’s original fundraising target, raising almost £3K towards their incredible £5K total!

We were determined to make our final fundraising activity count this year and we thought it would cheer everyone up to join together remotely in a fun experience.

Deputy Head Boy

Inspired? Sign up to find out what’s happening next

If you’re planning an event or fundraising activity - or would like to - let us know! Contact us at hello@aakss.org.uk

Our Million Pound Emergency Appeal

In April 2020 we launched our first ever Emergency Appeal, triggered by a shortfall in our core funding due to the cancellation of major fundraising events.

This combined with the increased costs associated with operating a safe service during the pandemic, with full infection prevention controls for our crew, patients and aircraft. We needed to invest in specialist equipment and protective wear to ensure our staff had the necessary resources to stay safe and continue to save as many lives as possible. With the amazing generosity of supporters like you we raised over £1.5M within six months. Never before have we been so astounded by such a display of support. COVID-19 suddenly and severely impacted our ability to fundraise but thanks to all of our dedicated supporters we have been able to continue providing our lifesaving critical care throughout the pandemic. We also extended our service and supported the NHS and South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb), to transfer over 100 critically ill patients between Intensive Care Units. This was a significant undertaking and one that we are very proud to have been involved in.

Thank you so much for your outstanding support during an unprecedented time. Thanks to you, we have been able to provide 24hour emergency care in a time of great need.

CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY APPEAL

Could you leave a gift in your Will?

Leaving a gift in your Will to KSS means that you can leave your mark on your local community and help people in need even after you have gone.

We know that writing a Will can be an incredibly daunting prospect for a lot of people, but to help make the process a little easier, we’ve partnered with Bequeathed. They provide a free online Will-writing service which allows everyone to create an up-to-date Will. They also provide 30-minutes of free legal advice with an accredited legal professional. Whilst Bequeathed is very userfriendly, we understand that many people will already have other arrangements for writing their Will. Whether you use Bequeathed or not, all you need to know to include us in your Will is our name, registered charity number and address. If you already have a Will but wish to include a gift to us, then you can make an amendment using our codicil form. All of these details and more information can be found on the “Leave a Gift in your Will” page on our website. On behalf of all future patients, their families and friends – thank you.

Find out more about leaving a gift in your will at:

aakss.org.uk/legacies