Staff from a South Wales funeral directors climbed Pen y Fan to raise funds for the Wales Air Ambulance.
Nine staff members from Coles Funeral Directors hiked up South Wales’ highest peak Pen-y-Fan to mark the company’s 20th anniversary.
Despite the awful weather the team reached the peak, in their custom-made Wales Air Ambulance t-shirts, and raised an incredible £1,435 for the all-Wales Charity.
With offices near the Charity’s Cardiff heliport, Coles Funeral Directors staff often see the Wales Air Ambulance.
Reflecting on why Coles Funeral Directors wanted to raise funds for the Wales Air Ambulance, Gareth Coles, CEO, said: “This year marks 20 years of Coles Funeral Directors. Rather than celebrate in the usual way, we asked our team to choose charities that meant something to them personally and committed to raising money for those causes throughout our anniversary year.
“Wales Air Ambulance was chosen by Marc and our funeral operatives. Marc’s wife, Angela, who is Funeral Manager at Coles, suffered an aneurysm and the Wales Air Ambulance crew was there when she needed them.
“After that, the choice made itself. When you spend your working life supporting families through some of their most difficult days, you understand just how much every minute matters. This was our way of saying thank you and helping to ensure the crews can be there for the next family who needs them.”
Despite the glorious summer the country has had, the day of the fundraiser was described as ‘miserable from the first step to the last’. One member of staff, Alan Gwyn, even managed to lose the sole of his boot on his way up the mountain but it didn’t deter them.
Gareth said: “We are funeral directors, not mountaineers and the mountain made very sure we knew it! Nobody went up alone, and nobody came down alone. That sense of looking out for one another is very much what Coles is about.”
The Wales Air Ambulance is consultant-led, taking hospital-standard treatments to the patient and if required, transferring them directly to the most appropriate hospital for their illness or injury.
It is delivered via a unique third sector and public sector partnership. The Emergency Medical Retrieval and Transfer Service (EMRTS) supplies highly skilled NHS consultants and critical care practitioners who work on board the Charity’s vehicles.
This advanced critical care includes the ability to administer anaesthesia, deliver blood transfusions and conduct minor operations, all at the scene of an incident.
As a pan-Wales service, its dedicated crews, regardless of where they are based, will travel the length and breadth of the country to deliver emergency lifesaving care.
Delighted to have raised such a generous amount, Coles Funeral Directors recently visited the Wales Air Ambulance heliport to present the staff with the funds.
Gareth said: “We raised £1,435, which is well beyond what we expected when we set out. We are incredibly proud of the team and very grateful to everyone in the community who sponsored and supported us.
“Coles has been part of the Cardiff community for 20 years, and that support reflects what those two decades have been built on: people looking after one another.”
Coles Funeral Directors fundraising will continue throughout its anniversary year. The company’s next fundraiser will see them doing a fancy-dress bucket collection through Cardiff City centre in aid of British Heart Foundation.
Phae Jones, Wales Air Ambulance’s Director of Income Generation, said: “A huge congratulations to everyone at Coles Funeral Directors who put on their hiking boots to climb Pen y Fan in awful weather. What a wonderful way to mark your 20th anniversary year by raising funds for charity. You’re raised an incredible amount for the Wales Air Ambulance, and we are extremely grateful for your support.
“Our service is purely funded by charitable donations, and we need to raise £13 million every year to keep our helicopters in the air and our rapid response vehicles on the road. Thank you to everyone at Coles Funeral Directors who climbed Pen y Fan, you have all played in part in ensuring we will be there for the people of Wales when they need us the most. We wish you well with the rest of your fundraising year.”
