On Friday 11 October, twelve local businesses came together at Minchinhampton Golf Course to support Great Western Air Ambulance Charity’s (GWAAC) first corporate golf day to raise money to save lives in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and beyond.
Amidst the fun, over £8,500 was raised to help fund four potentially lifesaving GWAAC missions.
Twelve teams of four, including a team of GWAAC crew, battled it out on a sunny autumn day on the par-71 Avening course, set in the beautiful rolling Cotswold hills. All the teams enjoyed the opportunity to play this course, which is often used in regional championships, but it was Team Naylor and Keyline who brought home the trophy.
“With Kier being one of Naylor’s largest Tier 1 contractor customers, their invitation for us to support one of their charitable partners on the A417 was a welcome opportunity. Naylor supplies the A417 project through Keyline, so it was fitting that both companies joined forces on the golf course.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, made even better by our victory. Many thanks to Great Western Air Ambulance Charity for hosting a great event!”
Joe Allen, Contractor Development Manager, Naylor
After the round of golf, the teams heard from former patient Simon Clark, who GWAAC attended after a serious road traffic collision in 2019. Fresh back from completing a trek to Everest Basecamp the week before, Simon shared his story and the teams got a firsthand insight into how their support could help people like Simon.
The teams also had a stark reminder of the important service that GWAAC provides when they caught a glimpse of the bright blue and green helicopter flying overhead. The crew were called to a high number of people in need of urgent critical care that day. On average, the crew attend six patients every day; on the charity golf day they responded to ten people who needed the specialist skills of GWAAC’s crew.
Joe Hughes, Corporate Partnerships Manager for GWAAC said, “Whilst the crew golf team on the ground would have loved to take home the trophy, everyone was a winner thanks to the teams who turned up to play. GWAAC are lucky to have such fantastic support from our region’s generous corporate community. A huge thanks to the teams who played and event sponsors Porsche Centre Tewskbury, Salocin Group, and Bishop Flemming. Here’s to an even bigger and better GWAAC Golf Day in 2025 (and hopefully a home-win for the crew too…)”
Ben Briggs, Managing Partner of Join the Dots, Salocin Group, and winner of the Beat the Pro competition, echoed Joe’s sentiments. He said, “We’re delighted to have supported Great Western Air Ambulance Charity as a bronze sponsor of their first corporate golf day. As a B Corp certified business, at Salocin Group we believe in giving back to the community and we’re proud to contribute to such a vital service that provides lifesaving care across our local region. This event was a fantastic opportunity to not only enjoy a great day of golf as a team but to also make a meaningful impact in support of GWAAC’s critical mission.”
As GWAAC begins to look towards 2025 now is the time to register your interest in joining their next golf day, supporting them as Charity of the Year or sponsoring one of their annual events. If you work for a local business that might like to support GWAAC, please get in touch at partnerships@gwaac.com
For more information about GWAAC go to https://greatwesternairambulance.com/
