Fakenham Racecourse directors and staff took part in The East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) challenging mud race ‘Only the Brave’ which took place at Elveden Estate, Norfolk on 7th April 2019. The team of nine participants an impressive total of £21,088.64 (plus gift aid) for EAAA.
In part, the inspiration for those taking part in the racecourse team was the first hand experience of EAAA being involved in two separate incidents at the racecourse over the past 12 months. On both occasions, a member of the public suffered a cardiac arrest and because of immediate first aid followed medical intervention of the highly skilled and specialist team of the air ambulance both men survived.
Fakenham Racecourse Chief Executive David Hunter said, ‘Everyone at the racecourse feels passionate about the work of the air ambulance so it was not a difficult decision for those who took part to say yes when I suggested we got a team together for Only the Brave. However, I was personally very disappointed to be a ‘non-runner’ 24 hours before the event with a torn leg muscle! But my friend and Racecourse Chairman Adam Case boldly stepped in to take my place at the last moment.’
The team that consisted of Adam Case (Chairman of the Racecourse), Nigel Savory (Racecourse directors and trustee of EAAA) and members of staff, Trudi Moulton, Clare Beevers, Dalia Courridge, Vicki Harper, Matthew King, Rachel Symington and Tristan McEwan. Some of the team opted for the 6 mile challenge, whilst Adam, Matthew, Rachel and Tristan braved the 10 mile race. Both teams managed to complete the race in less than 2 hours, which was no mean feat, especially given the cold day and pouring rain at times.
Nigel Savory said:
“I was a bit in awe about what I had agreed to take on when I entered Only the Brave with the team from Fakenham Racecourse, but in the end, it was the most marvellous experience. Great fun; real team work; and a sense of having achieved something I thought was beyond me… and I have even lost weight too! On top of that to help raise a significant amount for the East Anglian Air Ambulance was a huge bonus. The Air Ambulance gets A&E to the casualty and it really saves lives. You never know when it might be needed by someone you know. I would recommend the whole experience to anyone. You will smile!”
Patrick Peal, Chief Executive at East Anglian Air Ambulance, said:
“Fakenham Racecourse has absolutely smashed this out of the park! We are incredibly grateful to them for their tremendous fundraising efforts as we aim to become a 24/7 service at an extra cost of £1m a year. The Racecourse team, which included our very own EAAA Trustee Nigel Savory, pulled in over 13% of the total raised at Only the Brave this year. For an event with over 1,800 participants, this really is an outstanding achievement. To put it in context, if everyone who participated raised as much as the Racecourse team the event would have pulled in nearly £5m!”
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) is a community funded charity that provides a life-saving helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) for the people of East Anglia. The charity has two helicopters and two rapid response vehicles, which are located at their Norwich and Cambridge bases. Each of their crews consists of two pilots, a doctor and a critical care paramedic. The crew take advanced critical care directly to patients who have suffered life-threatening or life-changing accidents or medical emergencies. The starting cost of a mission is £3900.
Only the Brave had a terrific vibe and was great fun to part take in, especially whilst raising the funds for such a worthy cause. If you would like to find out more about the East Anglian Air Ambulance and the brilliant work that they do, please visit their website https://www.eaaa.org.uk/ or find them on Social Media. For those wishing to donate and support the racecourse fundraiser, you can still donate on their Just Giving Page .
