PEMBROKESHIRE’S Ascona Group has made a donation of £40,000 to its charity partner, the Wales Air Ambulance.

After Ascona made an initial donation of £10,000 in March 2023 to celebrate the start of the partnership, the Group has made this additional donation following the success of its fundraising activities over the last few months. Ascona anticipates raising over £100,000 for the Wales Air Ambulance over the course of the year-long partnership, through all of its proposed activities.

The partnership helps to support the Wales Air Ambulance in their mission to deliver lifesaving medical care to people across Wales, whenever and wherever they need it. The service relies entirely on charitable donations to raise the necessary £11.2 million in funds to keep the helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the roads across Wales.

Darren Briggs, Founder and CEO of Ascona Group, commented: “Since we launched Ascona in 2011, supporting our local communities has been at the heart of everything we do so I am very proud that we are able to support the Wales Air Ambulance in their vital work.

“I am thrilled that we were able to make another significant donation to the charity, and we remain on track to hit our ambitious fundraising target which will help to ensure this fantastic charity can continue to deliver lifesaving medical care to people across Wales.”

Mark Stevens, Head of Fundraising, Wales Air Ambulance Charity commented: “We are all amazed at the level of support from Ascona Group. This is the certainly the most ambitious pledge received from a business to the charity in recent years. Working with Ascona on the partnership has been positive and rewarding. It is very rare to partner with a business that demonstrates such high levels of Corporate Social Responsibility. On behalf of all crew, staff and patients, thank you.”

A CHARITY that supports people across Pembrokeshire with end-of-life care in their homes has secured a donation from a local housebuilder.

The Paul Sartori Foundation was awarded £1,000 from Persimmon Homes West Wales’ Community Champions scheme. The money has been used to purchase 100 branded t-shirts and sports vests so the charity’s fundraisers can show who they are supporting during events like the London Marathon, Cardiff Half, or other fun runs and walks.

The Haverfordwest-based charity, established in 1981 in memory of Father Paul Sartori who died of cancer at age 39, was formed initially as a home care service. Now the charity provides a range of free services to those in the final stages of life including day and night home care, equipment loan, complementary therapies, bereavement and counselling support, physiotherapy, future care planning and training in a range of topics (in-house and to other health and social care colleagues).

During 2022/2023, the clinical team provided nearly 17,000 hours of hands-on nursing care and supplied over 1,700 items of equipment in the community.

Five-star housing developer Persimmon Homes is currently building in Haverfordwest. Its 181-house Merlins Lane site in the west of the town still has three-bedroom homes available from £209,995.

The funding came from the business’ Community Champions scheme which sees the West Wales region donate £24,000 each year to good causes and commendable organisations in the areas in which it develops. Recent recipients include Wales Air Ambulance.

They had previously donated to the Foundation in 2019 and 2020, delivering £6,000 for the charity’s bereavement and counselling services for children.

Commenting, Persimmon Homes West Wales Sales Director Sharon Bouhali, said:

“Persimmon West Wales is delighted to once again support the excellent work of the Paul Sartori Foundation, which serves people across Pembrokeshire with distinction.

“For us, the more people who see the name of this fantastic charity the better, so using our donation as a means to spread the word is something we are very proud of.

“We look forward to seeing them in use at local shows and even on the TV when people do marathons when fundraising for the Foundation.”

Judith Williams, Grant Development Officer at the Paul Sartori Foundation, added: “We’re very grateful for Persimmon’s continued support. Any donation, of any amount, is always really appreciated.

“The Foundation decided to purchase t-shirts and sports vests. This enables us to raise the profile of the charity even more, and in turn hopefully enables us to raise more money so we can continue our work.

“Father Paul Sartori began the work of bringing hospice care to Pembrokeshire and it is essential that we can continue to help those who need our support, and we thank Persimmon again for being a part of that.”

THE 3 AMIGOS Motorcycle Group and Dollies are appealing for donations and toys for their charity toy run which takes place on Saturday December 9.

Their toy run is supporting children’s services within Hywel Dda University Health Board and the Wish Fund, a campaign which helps the Hywel Dda paediatric palliative care service to create lasting memories for the children, young people and families they support. The run also supports Action for Children.

The toy run is a much-loved event which sees hundreds of motorcyclists collecting and delivering toys.

The 3 Amigos will be travelling around various locations across Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire collecting for their appeal on the lead up to the run.

The collections are as follows:

• 04/11/2023 – Tesco, Haverfordwest
• 16/11/2023 – Fishguard
• 18/11/2023 – Home Bargains, Milford Haven
• 25/11/2023 – Castle Square, Haverfordwest

The 3 Amigos Motorcycle Group said: “All of us have family or know someone whose children have needed care and treatment at Cilgerran Ward. We know the money donated goes towards helping make patients and families on the ward have a better experience.

“It’s such a good feeling seeing how much joy the toy run brings to all the people who come out to support us. Helping Santa visit and handing out presents to the children in hospital at Christmas will create such a worthwhile feeling.

“Last year, we raised an outstanding £10,000. We always aim to raise as much as we are able to.”

Katie Hancock, fundraising officer, said: “Once again the 3 Amigos Motorcycle Group and Dollies are going above and beyond to support children’s services in Hywel Dda University Health Board.

“Their famous toy run is always a huge success and brings Christmas cheer to many children supported across the Hywel Dda region. We can’t thank them enough for their time, effort and dedication to fundraising. If you can, please support the 3 Amigos and Dollies this Christmas.”