WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance has launched its annual Christmas Raffle with a video that has a ‘cheeky’ twist on the 2003 hit film Love Actually.
A bumper festive jackpot of £3,000 is up for grabs, while players also have the chance of winning runner-up prizes of £500, £100 and £25. To launch the 2023 edition of the Christmas Raffle, the charity posted videos across their social media featuring new trainee critical care paramedic Matt Metcalf donning a santa hat and holding a host of messages written on white card.
“It’s a nod towards Love Actually, where Andrew Lincoln’s character, Mark, gets his heartfelt words across to Keira Knightley (Juliet) without saying a word,” says a spokesperson for the charity. “Knightley’s role is taken on by operations assistant Sadie Avery.”
Raffle tickets cost just £1 each and can be purchased online from the charity’s website: www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/raffle. Tickets are also being sent to addresses across Wiltshire and Bath.
To be in with a chance of winning, you must enter by 13th December. Anyone who takes part by 16th November will enter a special early bird draw to win a £100 M&S voucher.
The raffle will be drawn on 20th December, just in time for one lucky winner to receive the ultimate Christmas present of £3,000!
Wiltshire Air Ambulance will once again be working in partnership with Chippenham-based Woods Valldata to deliver the Christmas Raffle.
A critical care doctor for the charity, Rosie Furse, writes in a letter sent to donors across Wiltshire and Bath: “We appreciate times are tough for everyone with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis but please do consider playing our Christmas Raffle and you will be helping to fund our vital work.
“We receive no regular direct funding from the government or National Lottery grants, so we need your support to ensure we continue to be there for people like Chris Williams, who we airlifted to hospital after a paragliding accident earlier this year.”
Keeping the ‘love’ theme going, Chris sustained numerous spinal fractures and a collapsed lung on Valentine’s Day. He was treated by Rosie and critical care paramedic Keith Mills before being airlifted to Southmead Hospital.
Chris has made a brilliant recovery and has since raised over £7,000 for the charity, as well as banging the drum about the service to his fellow paragliders.
Chris said, “We want to know if we call 999 that an air ambulance can be there for us but it’s not free, it doesn’t come out of our taxes and they need our support, just like they helped me.”
To play, visit www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk/raffle. Participants in the charity’s Christmas Raffle must be 16 years of age or over.
You can view Matt’s take on the romantic comedy via Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s Facebook page – facebook.com/wiltshireairambulance and X page (previously Twitter) via @wiltsairambu.
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