NARBERTH & District Probus president Patrick Jones welcomed Wales Air Ambulance Regional Fundraising Manager Mike May to the club.

Mike worked for 15 years with the National Trust before joining the Wales Air Ambulance Charity a year ago.

Mike came to Pembrokeshire in the 1980s with his parents when his father was posted to RAF Brawdy. After attending school in Bath and continuing to further education in Business Studies at Swansea, he joined the family photo processing business. From there he left to spend nine years in technical recruitment with companies, including Dyson and W S Atkins.

Wales Air Ambulance operates from bases across Wales currently at Caernarvon, Cardiff, Welshpool and our own in West Wales at Dafen, Llanelli. The mission is to deliver lifesaving, advanced medical care to people across Wales, whenever and wherever they need it.

Since its inception, on March 1, 2001, the charity has completed over 50,000 missions and is on standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year to respond to emergencies. The service is delivered via a unique Third Sector and Public Sector partnership - the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service which supplies highly skilled NHS Consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the Charity’s vehicles. Thus, the crews, across Wales, can carry out medical procedures which would only be available within the hospital setting. They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthetics and undertake emergency operations.

On board, the ’copter can carry blood for transfusions, oxygen, ultrasound, scanners, monitors and, unlike other emergency services, the Air Ambulance service aims, therefore, to take the hospital to the patient. The aircraft are backed up by their own road ambulances.

As you would expect, it’s not cheap! Currently the service costs over £11 million pounds a year, and rising, to run and relies on donations and fundraisers to finance this vital service. We can all help, by making personal donations, joining the Air Ambulance Lottery, leaving a donation in a will, holding coffee mornings, helping in the Charity shop in Tenby or by becoming a volunteer to help the staff in carrying out this essential service. Recently, the Lamphey Women’s Institute organised a Dog Show and donated the profit to the Air Ambulance Charity.

President Patrick Jones is a volunteer with the Wales Air Ambulance Charity and Club member Rhys Watkins has been a volunteer for nearly 15 years.

If you would like to donate to Wales Air Ambulance, help in any way or want more information, call 0300 0152 999 to speak to one of the friendly staff members.

A vote of thanks was given by Freeman Brawn.

PROBUS is a local, national and international association of, mostly retired, gentlemen (initially PROfessional and BUSiness) who come together in a non-political non-sectarian non-profit making, autonomous club which provides regular opportunities for members to meet others in similar circumstances with shared levels of interest. The. Club provides opportunities for making new friends and maintaining and expanding members’ interests.

The next meeting of the Club takes place on October 30 at the Plas Hyfryd Hotel at 12.30pm when the speaker will be World Award winning photographer Rebecca Naden. To join the meeting, call Patrick Jones on 07846 660904.