SINCE 2000, the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance charity has been saving lives throughout the area, without any Government funding.

Over the past 11 years, the Mercury has reported, on countless occasions, the fundraising efforts of local people to keep the charity going - and with good reason.

Last year, the charity, which is based near Henstridge, attended 33 incidents in Bridgwater and 372 incidents across Somerset alone.

The Mercury's Rory McKeown visited the charity's base and spoke to paramedics John Penny and Mark Williams, pilot Johnnie Ecclestone and communications officer Tracy Bartram to get a glimpse of the essential service it delivers.

IT costs £1.4million a year - that's £3,800 a day - to keep the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance going, so regular fundraising is essential.

Tracy Bartram, the charity's communications officer, said: “We do a lot of events in the summer and we take our collection buckets. If a holiday maker comes up and says 'I only donate to my local air ambulance', they should remember that they might need our air ambulance while they are on a break.”

Tracy said Kirsty Turner, whose 13-year-old son Elliot Davies, from Wedmore, tragically died on his way to school in 2009, had been “inspirational” in raising money for the charity.

THE Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance does not always get the credit it deserves for the vital life-saving work it does before casualties are treated in hospital.

That is the view of one of the charity's paramedics, Mark Williams.

He told the Mercury: “Every week in the papers you see the fire services doing this and that but you only read 'the air ambulance was at the scene'.

“But once a casualty is out of our hands, we never hear from them again, unless they contact us - and even that can be a long time after.”

Fellow paramedic John Penny discovered, using a special on-site map, that it would take the helicopter less than 14 minutes to attend an incident in Bridgwater town centre.

He said: “With this job, you just never know what's going to happen. We could be in Lyme Regis at one minute and then in Minehead the next.

“If everyone donates one pound then we can be flying for another year.”

To find out how to support the charity, click the related link below.