WOODTURNERS from Wiltshire, Bath and Somerset have donated £505 to help Wiltshire Air Ambulance keep its emergency medical helicopter flying.

Members of the Kennet & Avon Woodturners Club raised the funds from their annual competition and Christmas gallery night on December 8 last year.

The pieces were subsequently donated by the members and sold in aid of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, raising £505 for the club’s chosen charity for the year.

Club chairman Philip Lobb said: “We are really pleased with the amount we raised. Two of our members are volunteers for the WAA and suggested we adopt them as our Christmas gallery night charity.”

Hollie Newhook, WAA’s Community Engagement & Volunteer Coordinator at Semington, invited club members for a facilities tour on Wednesday, July 26 and the opportunity was also taken to present the cheque.

Pilot George Williams, together with critical care paramedics Emma Thompson and Jo Gilbert, showed the group around the Bell helicopter and the WAA operations room.

Kennet & Avon Woodturners Club is based in Trowbridge and meets at St John’s Community Hall in Upper Studley on the second Thursday of each month.

The club now has 57 members from across west Wiltshire, Bath and East Somerset.