CHRISTMAS spirit was in the air when a church held a fair to raise money for charities including Wiltshire Air Ambulance' airbase appeal.

Organiser Ros Histed from St James Church, Trowbridge said: "It was a real community event and a chance for people to get out and meet others when normally they might not. Everyone was able to have a chat and a cup of coffee and enjoy themselves.

"More than anything it was about the community feel but we also raised between £800 and £900 for charity and the church to pay for Christmas flowers.

"We will be holding another in February and have already booked the one for next November."

The Christmas sale in aid of Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s airbase appeal and Julia’s House Children’s Hospice had stalls of books, gifts, toys, games, cakes and refreshments, bric-a-brac and a raffle.

The Gazette and the Wiltshire Times are supporting the air ambulance airbase appeal which is trying to raise £1.25 million for a new headquarters at Semington.

A spokesman for the appeal said: "We need to finish building and equipping our custom-built airbase, hangar and helipad for the helicopter. With a new airbase we will be able to save even more lives for years to come.

"Our new home in Semington, near Melksham, will be purpose-built with the latest technology and facilities for our lifesaving crew, aircraft and charity team. Thanks to a very generous supporter who has already donated £2.7m towards the cost of building our new home, we are most of the way towards raising the £5.1m needed for this exciting project."

Thanks to St James Church another £200 has been added to the appeal's coffers and it is these sort of donations from organisations and businesses across the county that are helping the appeal draw ever closer to its target.

The spokesman said: "Wiltshire Air Ambulance relies almost entirely on charitable donations to keep flying, so it’s going to be a challenge to raise the money we still need to make our new home a reality on top of the £3.25 million we need each year to keep the air ambulance flying.

"From schools to businesses, community groups to individuals, we hope everyone will all get on board and donate or pledge support."

But the church sale did not only help the air base appeal it also raised money for Julia's House children's hospice in Devizes, which will also receive £200 and the remainder of the cash will be spent making the church look wonderful for Christmas with special flower displays.

The church is now gearing up for its next fundraising event which will be a Christmas Tree Festival which will start on November 26. A total of 60 trees will be decorated with different themes by church groups.