Beeline: Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance Magazine, Spring 2016

foreword
Welcome
ooking out of my office on a very
L
wet February morning, it’s hard to
believe that spring is just around
the corner. Mind you, with so much to look
forward to this year, the months will soon
fly by and we are frantically ticking off our
list of ‘things to do’. Roger Morgan, our new
Chairman of Trustees, makes a very good point
of listing some of these in his piece on page 8.
As well as the normal hustle and bustle of
any year in the life of Dorset and Somerset Air
Ambulance, this year we have an incredible
range of things happening that will have a
huge positive impact on all our beneficiaries.
A doctor and paramedic critical care team on
all our shifts, a major upgrade to our hangar,
to include a clinical training facility and, of
course, the new helicopter.
All this needs money and thanks to the
generosity of the people of Dorset and
Somerset, we will be able to go on improving
and delivering an air ambulance service of
which we can all be proud.
Sadly, this year, we have seen some quite
shocking fundraising activities on the part of
some very well-known charities and I felt that
I might take this opportunity to set the record
straight with regard to our own fundraising.
Firstly you should know that we have never
purchased lists of potential donors and that
personal information you share with us is only
used by us for accounting purposes, to thank
donors and to keep our supporters up to date
with how their donations are helping to make
a difference. We do not send letters to existing
donors asking them to contribute more and we
will cease all correspondence with supporters
the minute it is requested.
We have reviewed all our fundraising
activities to ensure that we continue to
treat our donors with absolute respect and
that we conform to the highest standards of
fundraising behaviour.
We currently have more than 82,000
members of our Flight for Life Lottery, which
represents a significant proportion of the
Dorset and Somerset population and makes us
one of the most successful society lotteries in
the country. However, with members dropping
out every week (moving away, financial
difficulties and passing away) we must keep
canvassing for new members to replace them.
This requires significant effort and we do
it by a mixture of in-store and door-to-door
canvassing. All our canvassers wear easily
identifiable clothing and carry identification,
however, we do not believe that current
national guidance goes quite far enough and
now apply our own standards to the way in
which our canvassers work.
We are particularly conscious of vulnerable
adults in all our communities who might
unwittingly give their consent to payments
they cannot really afford. To that end, we have
committed to avoid any canvassing in sheltered
communities and our canvassers have recently
undergone training as ‘Dementia Friends’.
Read more about this on page 14.
We have been so pleased with this approach
that we are planning to extend this training
to include all our fundraising staff and
volunteers. As well as being known for our
clinical excellence, we also want to be known
as leaders when it comes to fundraising
standards. We think it’s the least you deserve.
All that remains is for me to say that I hope
you enjoy this issue of Beeline. As you have
come to expect, it has articles covering a huge
range of topics. Some you will find informative,
others you might find inspirational.
If you have had personal experience of the
air ambulance as a patient, I hope that it will
encourage you to share your story so that we
can share it with others. Please also get in
touch if you have any ideas for possible articles
to include in the future.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Bill Sivewright
Chief Executive,
Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
Published by:
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance,
Landacre House, Castle Road,
Chelston Business Park,
Wellington, Somerset, TA21 9JQ.
Tel: +44 (0) 1823 669604
Email: info@dsairambulance.org.uk
www.dsairambulance.org.uk
Registered Charity Number: 1078685
Editor: Tracy Bartram
Assistant editor: Lara Lucas
Designer: Anthony Collins
Production editor: Claire Manuel
Front cover: Michelle Walker
© 2016. The entire contents of this publication are
protected by copyright. All rights reserved. No part
of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance
(DSAA). The reproduction of advertisements in this
publication does not in any way imply endorsement
by DSAA of products or services referred to therein.
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