Casting their support for Wiltshire Air Ambulance

MELKSHAM business, NovaCast, has shown its support for Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

As well as making a donation of £1,000 for the charity’s Airbase Appeal, the company has pledged ongoing support by making monthly donations.

NovaCast is a metal-casting foundry established over 37 years ago. It employs 35 people and supplies customers in markets as diverse as transport, utilities, offshore and general engineering in the UK, North America, Europe and the Middle East.

NovaCast’s sales director, Richard Phillips said, “Even though NovaCast is a business that trades internationally, we feel that we are part of the local Melksham community and want to contribute wherever we can to supporting worthwhile local causes.

“Wiltshire Air Ambulance is a charity that provides a vital, lifesaving service to this community and we are delighted to be able to offer our support to their efforts in creating a new airbase at Semington. The airbase is essential to the continuing good work carried out by the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

“At NovaCast, we have made an initial donation and will continue to make regular monthly donations, as well as encouraging staff members to engage in fundraising activities throughout the year. We anticipate that our combined contributions to Wiltshire Air Ambulance will exceed £5,000 this year and we look forward to supporting them for many years to come.”

Richard and his daughters, Alyesha, who is a paramedic practitioner in a GP surgery, Natasha and Lauren, visited Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s current operations centre in Devizes to present the £1,000 donation for the Airbase Appeal on behalf of NovaCast.

Richard and his daughters also raised funds for Wiltshire Air Ambulance by completing a half marathon on treadmills at Atlas Gyms, Chippenham, after the Bath Half Marathon was cancelled in March.

Richard added, “It was a pleasure to meet the pilot and paramedics on duty when we visited Wiltshire Air Ambulance to present the cheque. Their professionalism and dedication was outstanding and it’s nice to feel that we have played a small part in sustaining this vital service for the benefit of the whole community.”

Barbara Gray, senior fundraising, marketing and communications manager said, “We were delighted to welcome Richard Phillips and his daughters to our operations centre in Devizes and to thank them for their support when they ran a half marathon for us.

“We are also extremely grateful to Richard and NovaCast for their generous support, both for our Airbase Appeal and our lifesaving service, which will help us to continue flying and saving lives.”