THE ORGANISER of the farm-based CornShed festivals has presented the air ambulance with a whopping £33,000 - after its 30-year history finally drew to a close.

Judy Kitching founded the fundraising festivals near Hutton Rudby, Stokesley, in the 1980s in memory of husband Jim, a musician who died aged 38 after an accident at their farm.

In the 30 years the festivals have been running, more than £200,000 has been raised for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

The first used stage blocks from a local primary school and a mobile dance floor loaned by a friend, while family provided the food.

It went on to become a successful local festival, with volunteers travelling from all over the UK to help stage the annual event.

It also led to Judy being awarded an MBE for her services to charity.

Now the curtain has come down on the annual CornShed music and beer festivals, run from Sexhow Park Farm, after the final beer festival was held last month.

At a thank you party for her family and volunteers, Judy presented GNAAS with a cheque for over £33,000, raised from this year’s two festivals.

Paying tribute, Grahame Pickering MBE, chief executive of GNAAS, said: “Judy’s events have raised more than £250,000 for charity over the years.

“Her contributions to GNAAS have saved lives, it’s as simple as that.

“Without her support, there are people out there today who would not have been given the chance.

“Raising this kind of money requires immense amounts of graft and we are grateful to Judy and her dedicated team for their support.”

One of the volunteers there was Jill Libby, who was involved in a collision with a car while cycling on the A172 near Faceby. She received lifesaving treatment from the air ambulance and was airlifted to the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, where she was told by a doctor she would have died if it wasn’t for the air ambulance and its crew’s treatment.

Judy was presented with a cake, flowers and plaque in memory of the CornShed and husband Jim.

She said the evening left her “amazed and overawed” adding: “This is the end of one chapter, but the beginning of a new one for me.”