A feast of film and tasty treats will help keep the life-saving Wales Air Ambulance flying high.
On the menu at Theatr Twm o’r Nant, in Denbigh, at 7pm on Friday, July 5, will be the Oscar-winning film, Life of Pi, and the supremely talented mezzo soprano, Sioned Terry.
The event, Meet Pi and Welsh Cakes, is being organised to raise much-needed funds for the Air Ambulance which costs £1,500 every time it takes off.
The Welsh Cakes are being supplied by the award-winning Village Bakery, who have a shop and cafe in Ruthin while the chocolates are coming from Denbigh Chocolate Shop and Pimms is being provided by care organisation Pendine Park.
Support is also being provided by Denbigh Film Club, Buckley-based printers EWS and PR firm Ceidiog Communication. The Denbigh branch of Barclays bank are also selling tickets and have pledged to match the money raised by the event.
Singing star Sioned Terry, a former teacher at Howell’s School who hails from Bethel, near Caernarfon, and lives in Towyn, is an enthusiastic supporter of the Wales Air Ambulance.
A week or so after the concert she will be joining well-known tenor Rhys Meirion and friends for the annual 200-mile Cerddwn Ymlaen Trek from Swansea to Caernarfon which is also raising money for the Air Ambulance.
For Sioned, it is very much a personal mission after the Wales Air Ambulance came to the rescue of the pastor at her church.
Tim Rowlands, the pastor at North Coast Church, in Towyn, was lucky to escape with his life after a horrific rock climbing accident two years ago.
He fell 20ft from the top of a limestone crag called Tower Hill, near Abergele, and then tumbled a further 60ft down the steep hillside.
His wife and three children were standing on the ground below and watched in horror as he fell. They rang 999 and the Wales Air Ambulance flew him to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd, Bodelwyddan for treatment.
After the accident, he needed two brain scans and stitches to an eight centimetre long scalp wound.
Tim, said: “They provide a vital, life-saving service so I am particularly grateful to Sioned for her efforts in raising money for them.”
Sioned added: “I think the Air Ambulance probably saved Tim’s life. He needed to be airlifted because they were in a location where they couldn’t get a regular ambulance to.”
Mark Young, who runs Denbigh Chocolate Shop, also has firsthand experience of seeing the Wales Air Ambulance in action.
He was first on the scene when his friend, smallholder Dave Murfitt, broke both legs in a riding accident near Llanrhaeadr, Denbigh.
Mark said: “I believe they saved his life thanks to the speed with which they got to the operating theatre.
“The pilot was actually talking to the surgeon en route telling him what the condition of the patient was, so seeing it at first hand is so impressive.
“If they hadn’t been to get into that field and then talk to the surgeon and then get him there, I don’t believe he’d be alive and I don’t believe he’d be walking today.”
Mario Kreft MBE, the owner of the Pendine Park care organisation, is a also a big fan.
He said:”This vital service is only able to keep going through charitable donations and the staff are absolutely fantastic. It’s a great charity and we’re delighted to be able to help them.”
It was a sentiment echoed by Lil Jones, from Denbigh Film Club, who said: “Certainly, people in rural Wales people just can’t do without the Wales Air Ambulance. It gets to people quickly and it saves lives.
“It’s a vital resource and it costs a lot of money to run, not just to get the helicopter in the air but also to maintain them.”
Wales Air Ambulance volunteer Dyfrig Roberts, a IT expert from Henllan, near Denbigh, is grateful to the businesses involved in the event.
He said: “The Wales Air Ambulance saves lives every day, 365 days a year.
“I’m very pleased to see that this night has been organised to raise money and that the public is proud of their Air Ambulance.
“Without the help of the public and fund-raising events like this, there would not be a Wales Air Ambulance Service and that is unthinkable.”
