A Gwynedd carnival committee has donated £2,000 to the Wales Air Ambulance to help with its lifesaving missions.

Members of the Llanberis carnival committee, who helped organise the annual community event between 1967 and 2002, recently came together to discuss what to do with the remaining funds in the account before “closing the books.”

The carnival ended in the village in 2002, but the committee remained to donate funds periodically to local causes.

Eric Baylis, one of the members of Llanberis Carnival Committee, said the carnival was forced to finish as there was not enough volunteers to help organise the event.

He said: “Sadly, the carnival became too big for us to manage, and we did not have enough volunteers to keep making it a success. We have had some fantastic carnivals over the years which were plenty of fun and have some wonderful memories and we raised a great sum of money for the community and local causes.

“A few months ago, we met up as a committee to discuss where we wanted the rest of the funds to go to before we closed the account. We decided to give a sum of money to the Wales Air Ambulance as it is a vital service.

As well as the Wales Air Ambulance, other causes to benefit from the carnival committee’s donations, included Dolbadarn Primary School, Llanberis Nursery Group, Llanberis Medical Centre, the First Responders Llanberis Community Development Group and the local community council.

Eric said: “Out of the money we also helped to buy a defibrillator at the school, Christmas lights in the village and general new equipment.”

A presentation was held at St Padarn Church, where Wales Air Ambulance Community Fundraiser, Alwyn Jones, received a generous £2,000 cheque from the committee on behalf of the Charity.

Alwyn said: “I would like to wholeheartedly thank the committee members for this substantial donation to our lifesaving Charity. Your support is greatly appreciated. The Wales Air Ambulance now operates 24/7, seven days a week and donations like this are vital. By keeping our helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road, we can continue to take the emergency department to the patient and save lives.

“I would also like to thank the committee members for their warm welcome in the beautiful St Padarn Church and I wish you all well for the future.”

The Charity needs to raise £8 million every year to keep its helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road. 

The Wales Air Ambulance service offers advanced critical care across Wales. It is delivered via a unique Third Sector and Public Sector partnership between the Wales Air Ambulance Charity and the Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS Cymru). As a result, the service is consultant-led and is known as a ‘flying emergency department’, taking hospital-standard treatments to the patient at the scene of an incident. This includes the ability to administer anaesthesia, deliver blood transfusions and conduct minor operations, all at the scene of an incident. 

There are several ways that the public can continue to support the Wales Air Ambulance. These include online donations, signing up to the Charity’s Lifesaving Lottery or by coming up with their own innovative ways to fundraise at home. Further information can be found via www.walesairambulance.com.     

Alternatively, a £5 text-message donation can be made by texting the word HELI to 70711.