Pictured above: (l-r) Emma Barker (AA), Christine Smith (Derwent Living), Jayne Farquharson (AA) and Catherine Foster (AA)

Derwent Living has donated £500 to the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA) to help raise vital funds to keep the organisation running.

The Derby-based housing provider has donated the money from its Brighter Communities Fund to help DLRAA to purchase t-shirts to sell at a fund raising event that is being held in June.

DLRAA is a charitable organisation that costs £1.5million a year to operate. The company receives no government or National Lottery funding and relies entirely on voluntary donations from its communities, like the one given by Derwent Living. The ambulance attends 4-6 missions a day, 365 days a year with each mission costing on average £1000.

DLRR is holding its Air Ambulance 5km Heroes Run on the 27th June to raise money to keep the helicopter and crew flying. As part of the event, people will be able to purchase a Heroes Run t-shirt, and all sales will contribute to the overall funds raised from the run and to also promote the air ambulance afterwards. 

The money donated by Derwent Living will go towards producing the t-shirts, which will mean that the money made will not be eaten into by the production costs.

The Brighter Communities Fund was set up by Derwent Living in 2006 and aims to support groups and ideas that will improve the communities where residents of Derwent Living live. Both residents and non-residents can apply to get help funding for projects that will benefit Derwent Living residents and the wider community.

Christine Smith, community regeneration officer at Derwent Living said: "We receive so many applications from groups in the area, and they are all worthy causes, but this one really stood out. The work that the air ambulance does is incredible and impacts on the lives of so many people in and around the region. As a company we want to help this kind of organisation in any way we can and we hope that the money will help with their fund raising event."

Jayne Farquharson, events manager for DLRAA said: "We are very grateful to Derwent Living for the fantastic donation as we rely completely on the generosity of others to keep flying. This will go a long way in helping to pay for the t-shirts for our run in June, which means that we will be able to raise more funds from the event to help us continue our life saving work. We wish to extend our sincere thanks to everyone at Derwent Living for their support."