Great North Air Ambulance Service

Ellan Vannin Fuels raises more than £1,000 for GNAAS from hot drinks sales

03/08/2023

Ellan Vannin Fuels (EVF) has raised more than £1,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) from the sale of hot drinks at the Isle of Man TT.

From 27 May to 11 June, throughout the duration of the TT races, 25p from every Coffee Mann hot drink sold at participating EVF sites was donated to GNAAS.

Coffee Mann is owned by Conor Cummins, a Manx motorcycle road racer who recently secured 4th place in this year’s Milwaukee Senior TT Race. Cummins made his TT debut in 2006 and has since claimed 12 podiums.

His company’s drinks have been sold at EVF sites across the Isle of Man since 2017 and offer a variety of bean-to-cup coffees and hot chocolate.

More than 4,000 hot drinks were sold during the TT at participating EVF sites culminating in a donation of £1,026.50.

Des Kinsella, Isle of Man retail sales manager at EVF, said: “We are really pleased to be able to support this great charity and the work they do on the island. We hope by working with the team at GNAAS, we can assist in raising awareness of the invaluable assistance they provide Manx Care and the Manx public, as well as raise funds to support the work they do for the Manx public.

“We would also like to thank our customers for purchasing Coffee Mann hot drinks in our stores and contributing to the money raised.

“Our customers can also donate to GNAAS at collection boxes in our stores across the island.”

After the success of the hot drinks donations, EVF now plans to support GNAAS by donating 25p from every Coffee Mann hot drink sold during the Manx Grand Prix between 20-28 August.

Sophie Snowdon, fundraising lead at GNAAS, added: “We’re grateful to have the support of EVF and are delighted to hear they’ve raised over £1,000 for our charity. This money will help our critical care team continue to respond to those who are severely ill or injured and provide them with vital treatment.

“I would like to thank EVF for their generous donation as well as everyone who bought a Coffee Mann hot drink during the TT, it is very much appreciated.”

GNAAS does not receive government funding and therefore needs to raise £7.7m a year to remain operational. The charity has launched a raffle with a top prize of £10,000 to help it meet rising demand of its services. Tickets costs £1 each and are available now at gna.as/raffle_2023

About GNAAS

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.
They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £7.7m a year through public donations to remain operational.