Local shopping centre, Forestside make a real effort in the run up to Christmas, turning their mall into a winter wonderland, while offering their customers the opportunity to support a local charity. And this year was no different, with Forestside staff choosing to support the lifesaving work of Air Ambulance NI.

This gives Forestside customer the opportunity to be emersed in the Christmas experience all while supporting their local Air Ambulance; The display was a huge success, raising a phenomenal £5665.99.

Lee Cutler, Centre Manager said ‘We would like to thank our customers for their consistent and invaluable support. Raising £5665.99 is amazing, particularly in the run up to Christmas, so thank you so much for supporting our charitable endeavours. We at Forestside are so proud and privileged to help keep our local Air Ambulance flying. Its an invaluable service which we all need to support any way we can.’

Grace Williams, Area Fundraising Manager for Air Ambulance NI, said, “I want to thank Lee, Roy and the whole team at Forestside for choosing to support our lifesaving service, not forgetting Forestside customers who contributed to this amazing donation.  Since we first launched in July 2017, Forestside have been amazing supporters, coming up with unique ways for their customers to get involved with fundraising and encouraging them to support Air Ambulance NI. With a fundraising need of £5,500 per day, we really appreciate this support, which is keeping our team flying and saving lives, brains and limbs.”

The charity Air Ambulance Northern Ireland, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, provides the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service for Northern Ireland.  The service brings urgent medical assistance to anywhere in the province, operating seven days a week for 12 hours per day. It can get to anywhere in Northern Ireland in approximately twenty-five minutes. From inception to December 2021, the medical crew have been tasked 2,679 times.

The HEMS team attend patients who are seriously ill or injured, bringing emergency pre-hospital care direct to the casualty with the aim of saving lives, brains and limbs.