The sky's the limit at The Royals
August 2008
A local charity is celebrating after a record-breaking charity collection at The Royals.
Essex Air Ambulance was the Royals Shopping Centre's charity for Christmas 2007 and this very deserving cause certainly stirred up goodwill by raising a record £10,058.
The festive fundraiser at The Royals shattered the previous records at the Centre, with £3,500 from bucket collections and a further £4,250 generated from merchandising. Further funds were raised from the Centre's wishing well, whilst the Elvis look-a-like and motorcycle outriders who led the festive promotions kindly donated half of their wages for the day to the cause.
Essex Air Ambulance, which was established in 1997, receives no funding from Central Government or National Lottery and relies solely on the generosity of donations and fundraising events. Operating seven days a week, the service is deployed several times each day and, when an alarm is raised, the helicopter can be launched within 2 minutes.
Wendy Byland, of Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust said, "This has been a fantastic opportunity for the Charity. We are very grateful to The Royals management team for choosing Essex Air Ambulance as their charity for 2007's exciting Christmas promotion, we are delighted to have been part of it. We would like to say a big thank you to the Royals staff and to our wonderful team of volunteers who have worked so hard over the five weeks leading up to Christmas. A phenomenal amount has been raised so thank you also to everyone who has taken time to come and support us."
Dawn Jeakings, Centre Manager at The Royals, added: "We are so proud of this year's fundraising activity. Visitors to The Royals have been incredibly generous and we have surpassed all previous charity collections. Everyone at Essex Air Ambulance has really worked really hard to help people understand how important this charity is and have helped to raise a staggering amount for a very worthwhile cause."
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