MORE than 500 people flocked to Pembroke Castle last Tuesday to see a Wales Air Ambulance helicopter land, as the highpoint of an afternoon of fundraising and fun.

The free entry Heli-Fest, in aid of the Wales Air Ambulance charity, the chosen charity of Pembroke Mayor Dennis Evans, rans from 5pm-8.30pm.

The event included demonstrations from the fire service, police, ambulance, coastguard, and cliff rescue, as well as the landing of the Air Ambulance helicopter in the castle.

Cllr Evans said: “As Mayor of Pembroke and a volunteer, one of my two chosen charities is Wales Air Ambulance and the idea of this event was to help raise the awareness of the charity and with the hope of raising much needed funds in the process.

“Pembroke Castle was an obvious choice to stage the event and I am very grateful to the Castle trustees and Jon Williams the manager for allowing the event to proceed.

“Because WAA crews work closely with the emergency services I decided to invite representation from them. Their support was important and I am pleased to say that the following groups were represented. Mid & West Wales Fire & Rescue, HM Coastguard and Cliff Rescue, Dyfed Powys Police, Wales Ambulance Service and the Blood Bikers attended.

“The highlight was the arrival and landing of the WAA helicopter into the castle grounds. Once safe the public were allowed to view the helicopter at close quarters and some of the youngsters actually sat in the helicopter. The helicopter was piloted by a local person, Ray Weatherall. His early years were spent in Pembroke, his family moved away and eventually Ray joined the army and became helicopter trained. Now working for the WAA Ray has now returned to live in Pembroke. Ray was accompanied by paramedic Jason who was able to answer questions relating to his role as a paramedic and was able to highlight the features of the new baby incubator.

“A number of people who had been rescued by the WAA were on hand and recounted some amazing stories about their treatment and subsequent recovery as a result of professionalism shown by the crew and paramedics.”

One of the groups attending the Heli-fest was the Tenby Aces cycle club, who called into the castle to pay their respects to the crew. At the end of last year two of their members were involved in a serious traffic accident, both were airlifted to hospital using two helicopters and as a result the Aces have embarked on a number of cycle rides raising funds for the WAA charity.

Clle Evans added: “Over £550 was raised for the charity and I would like to thank the public for their generosity, thanks also to the WAA volunteers and Valero volunteers and St Johns for making the event incident free. Thanks also to Tony Key the WAA fund co-ordinator for his help and support in putting this event on.”