Charity's plea for help after fundraising falls

THE Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is urging the public to support them after their fundraising appeal falls significantly behind target, raising only half of what was achieved at this point last year.

- EMILY GRAY

The charity, which provides life-saving care to critically ill and injured people across the North of England and the Isle of Man, relies on donations from the public to remain operational. But their appeal, which helps fund the service, has failed to reach the same level of success as previous years.

Joe Garcia, interim chief executive officer at Great North Air Ambulance Service, said: "The past few years have been challenging for GNAAS, and as time goes on, our aircraft are aging and the cost of running this service is increasing, whilst charitable support across all charities is dropping.