A CEREDIGION nursery kicked off the festive season with a fun-filled fundraiser in aid of Wales Air Ambulance and its local nursery.
Cylch Meithrin in Llandysul held its annual Christmas Tractor and Car Run on Wednesday 27 of November 2024.
30-year-old Hannah Thomas, Leader of Cylch Meithrin Bro Teifi said: “It was quite a spectacle. After months of planning, it was a huge relief that everything went to plan.
“We wanted to go a week earlier this year, to get into the Christmas spirit. The children thoroughly enjoyed the lights and tractors last year, we wanted more wow factor so added a fire engine to the line-up!
“Our route weaved through lots of local villages, it even went past the local old people’s home in Huntllan for them to enjoy the lights.”
The Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, taking hospital-standard treatments to the patient and if required, transferring them directly to the most appropriate hospital for their illness or injury.
It is delivered via a unique Third Sector and Public Sector partnership. The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) supplies highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the charity’s vehicles.
Hannah said: “It is so important that the service is available. It is just reassuring to know that it is there if we need it, especially living in a rural community like ours.”
She added: “Our staff were asked who they would like to be a beneficiary of this year’s tractor run and everyone said the air ambulance.
“It struck a chord with us all, so many of us have family and friends who have needed the service over the years. It is our way of saying thank you.”
Hannah continued: “Our nursery is a charity too, we understand how difficult it is to raise money, there is always pressure to ensure we have enough to keep running.
“We have to fundraise every year as we don’t get education money for the three-year-olds.
“It’s important to ensure we can provide the best possible start for our children, and we need to ensure we are able to staff the sixty-nine pupils that we have.”
Every year, the Wales Air Ambulance needs to raie £11.2 million to keep its fleet of helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.
Cylch Meithrin Bro Teifi’s Christmas tractor run helped raise £2,420.00 which was shared between their nursery and the lifesaving service.
Hannah said: “We did a lot of publicity online before the big day drumming up support on Facebook.
“There were lots of donation buckets located everywhere on the night and the whole community were amazing, people came down to the school to cheer everyone on and stood along the streets.”
All the drivers were given a booklet which provided information about all the businesses who sponsored the run.
Hannah said: “We received £1,050 from our sponsor to produce a booklet; it was important to give those taking part something to take away from the evening.
“We wanted to help raise awareness of the work of the air ambulance, some people don’t realise it is a charity so we hope it will encourage others to donate too.”
The pan-Wales service attends around 4,000 patients each year, wherever and whenever they are needed.
Hannah said: “It’s wonderful to know that every pound we raised is now going to go towards helping save someone’s life.”
Mike May, Regional Fundraising Manager for Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire said: “Cylch Meithrin Bro Teifi certainly pulled out all the stops to create a Christmas extravaganza that the whole community could enjoy!
“Thank you to the fire service and all the drivers who spread Christmas cheer and brightened up all the villages.
“It was so lovely to go along to the school to meet everyone and to find out about their own charity which helps fund their nursery.
“We are hugely grateful to be chosen as a beneficiary, without the support of fundraisers like this we wouldn’t be able to continue to do what we do.”
