We are saying a big thank you to Mablethorpe pensioner Jim Carruthers who has raised over £12,000 in just over 4 years through his weekly auctions at Trusville Holiday Centre, Mablethorpe.

Every Wednesday, Jim can be found fundraising for Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, auctioning anything from kitchenware to jewellery, cds and dvds to glassware, children’s toys to pots and pans. And any items that he is unable to find a new owner for are kindly given to the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance shop at Wragby.

The LNAA is one of the UK’s leading Helicopter Emergency Service charities. And with the crews on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the highly skilled doctors, paramedics and pilots are there to help people involved in life-threatening incidents every single day.

This level of care and the speed at which the pilots can get to patients and get them to hospital is crucial.  This is especially so for people living on the Lincolnshire Coast, where the nearest Major Trauma Centre is situated around 60 miles away.

Speaking of the reason he decided to fundraise for LNAA, Jim said: “A career in the RAF gave me an interest in aircraft, which has stayed with me ever since. Last summer the LNAA had a second helicopter based at Strubby airfield nearby to where my daughter lives.  To see it flying overhead regularly, helping folks who live here or visiting the seaside made me want to do something that supports the good work that LNAA do in looking after our communities on the East Coast.”

Karen Carter, Community Fundraising Manager for LNAA said: “It is absolutely brilliant what Jim has done and continues to do for our charity. In four years he has raised an amazing £12,298 and we were delighted to celebrate his achievement when he recently visited our headquarters to meet the crew so that we could all thank him in person.”

It will cost £10 million this year to run our lifesaving critical care service and as we receive no Government or NHS funding, we rely on the generous fundraising efforts of people like Jim.

He is always on the lookout for good, unwanted items to ensure he always has a wide variety to auction each week. For people wishing to donate items, he can be contacted on 01507 472128.