Yesterday, we welcomed our friend and colleague Mr Damien McAnespie back to St. Mary’s. Damien has swapped the classroom for a special fundraising and education role in Air Ambulance.
As part of our World Book Day celebrations, St Mary’s organised the “Masked Reader” competition to raise funds for AANI. Mrs Quinn and our Head Boy Oisin and Head Girl Caitlin were delighted to present Damien with a cheque for £500.
Thank you to everyone in our school community for your support! Your generosity and support for such an amazing charity is very much appreciated.
You can find out more about the charity and what it does by visiting the Air Ambulance website.
https://airambulanceni.org
Please see the photos below.
Air Ambulance Northern Ireland (AANI) is a registered charity that operates a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) dedicated to responding to serious trauma and medical emergencies in Northern Ireland.
Serious or life-threatening situations can happen to anyone at any time and on average, every single day in Northern Ireland, one individual finds themselves in desperate need of AANI.
The charity’s operational helicopter carries a crew compiling pilot, doctor, and paramedic, 365 days of the year operating for twelve hours every day. They attend some of the most traumatic medical incidents across Northern Ireland and are dedicated to delivering the very best possible pre- hospital care, both at the scene and whilst transferring the patient to the most appropriate hospital for their specific injuries.
What is not widely known is that AANI is a charity. Each day costs in the region of £5,500 and £2m is needed each year to keep the air ambulance service operational. AANI rely entirely on support from the public and local businesses.
