TROWBRIDGE photographer David Betteridge is amazed at the support his 2015 Foxy Hunters Calendar has received, after it raised £30,000 for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

The calendar, which features horse riders in risqué poses, was first published in 2010 after his friend Maria Badder was seriously injured during a team chase event at Newbury and was airlifted to hospital.

Since being set up, the calendars have raised just over £107,000 for Wiltshire Air Ambulance and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, which transported Mrs Badder to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for immediate treatment.

The calendar, which now has more than 210,000 followers on its Facebook page, raised another £60,000 for the two charities this year, with the proceeds split equally between them.

Mr Betteridge said: “I’m delighted and amazed at how well this year’s calendar has done. The Facebook page has been instrumental in its success as most of our sales are generated online.

“I’m incredibly grateful to all the people who supported it. We sold three times more calendars than we did last year and that was helped by the increase in numbers on the Facebook page.

“It was great to have Maria take part again in this year’s calendar and it is just fantastic to see how the calendar has grown over the years. It is contributing a serious amount of money at a time when the air ambulance needs it most.”

Mr Betteridge added that the 2016 calendar is currently being planned with the hope of raising even more funds for the two air ambulance charities.

Cheryl Johnson, head of fundraising and communications at Wiltshire Air Ambulance, said: “This is an incredible amount and has helped to keep the air ambulance flying. We are very grateful to the people who are involved in producing and buying the calendars.

“In 2014 Wiltshire Air Ambulance attended more than 480 incidents, including 22 horse riding incidents. With Wiltshire being a rural county the air ambulance can reach people in remote areas quickly, deliver gold standard medical care and take patients to the most appropriate hospital.

“It costs £6,850 a day to keep it flying. We receive no Government funding and we rely entirely on public donations, so ongoing support like this enables us to keep saving lives.”

For more information about the Foxy Hunters Calendars, visit www.foxyhunters.co.uk