Harrogate Asda store manager leads on £100,000 fundraising challenge for YAA

9 June 2014

Asda staff and shoppers have launched a major campaign to raise a whopping £100,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance this year.

In just three months over last summer 17 Asda stores across Yorkshire raised over £53,000 for the emergency rapid response charity.
All 23 Yorkshire stores have now signed up to a new campaign that aims to double that total by the end of the year.

Asda Harrogate store manager Barkat Ali is also Asda’s regional community lead and said: We are a Yorkshire business and this is a fantastic charity that does an amazing job saving lives across Yorkshire every day but relies totally on public donations.

A couple of Asda colleagues have actually required the help of the service, so it is a charity that is close to our hearts, and we are delighted to renew our support for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) has carried more than 5,500 people in its 13-year history. It needs to raise £9,990 each day to keep its two helicopters in the air and maintained – equivalent to £3.6 million each year.

Without any direct government funding, the only help the charity receives is through the secondment of its paramedics from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Asda stores across Yorkshire – from Harrogate to Hull, and from Sheffield to York – are holding a wide range of fundraising events and activities during the year, including sponsored bag packing, tins on the tills, in-store Yorkshire Day and Grand Depart celebrations, sponsored walks, raffles and the sale of YAA merchandise.

Kerry Garner, Yorkshire Air Ambulance Regional Fundraiser, said: We are overwhelmed by the support and generosity of Asda, their store staff and amazing customers.

We had a fantastic time working with them last year and looking forward to working with even more stores across Yorkshire over the coming months to help them reach their amazing target.

We are an independent charity and rely on organisations such as Asda, their staff and their customers to help us raise the vital funds we need.

Caption: (L to R) Asda Harrogate Store Manager Barkat Ali, YAA Regional Fundraiser Kerry Garner, Asda Regional Manager for Yorkshire Steve Shirley and Dewsbury store Community Charity Champion Sharon Kingsland with YAA mascot Lance.

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