DESPITE Government restrictions playing havoc with normal fundraising activities, a group of Rotarians still wanted to show their support for a lifesaving charity.

With the Yorkshire Air Ambulance set to receive a financial uplift from the Wensleydale Rotary Club’s yearly charity walk, the members were determined its enforced cancellation could be made good. The kind-hearted Rotarians elected to the make up for the lost revenue in three ways:

lFirstly, they ran a lockdown limerick competition where people paid £5 per entry; the full set of limericks are on their website: www.wensleydale.rotary1040.org.

lMs Rogers, who was then the club president, made face masks for her fellow Rotarians and personal friends, which were given away for free; the inclusion of a letter saying donations were welcome gleaned the expected benefit.

lThe financial icing on the cake was after their recent successful Charter Night, any guests who had enjoyed the event were asked to make a donation towards the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. This made up the total to a nice round £1,000.

Spokesperson Susan Rogers said: “Yorkshire Air Ambulance was one of my chosen charities for the year. They were to have been the main beneficiary of the Wensleydale Wander, which unfortunately had to be cancelled this year.

“I still wanted to raise funds for them, as they have been suffering from a combination of not being able to attend events to raise funds, but also with Covid-19, people are donating to more immediate local causes such as food banks, yet the air ambulance still has to go out on calls.”