We've done it!
That was the jubilant cry as Huddersfield Town’s lifesaving ‘Keep It Up’ campaign smashed the £1m barrier.
Cash helps fund the Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity along with the football club’s Academy for junior players– and the landmark has been hit in just five years.
Town owner-chairman Dean Hoyle said: “It’s not just a proud milestone and magnificent achievement for the club, but also for every single person who has taken part in fundraising events or supported those who have.
“People have walked hundreds of miles and cycled hundreds of miles for the Keep it Up Campaign over the past five years, it’s proof of how much Huddersfield Town is at the centre of this community, and I’m delighted that money generated through Keep it Up has funded every life-saving flight the YAA has undertaken in a Huddersfield postcode since we launched the partnership in 2009.”
The YAA needs £9,990 per day to keep its two helicopters flying – they will have three on duty for the Tour de France this weekend, with Sunday’s base being at Ripponden.
One of the fleet landed at Town’s PPG Canalside training ground to mark the £1m achievement, and Director of Fundraising for the charity, Paul Gowland, explained: “No-one could have predicted five years ago how successful this campaign was going to be.
“It’s fabulous, the club have driven it superbly, spread our message far and wide and their supporters have backed the campaign to the hilt – so all credit to them as well.
“Their passion and dedication has been inspiring and they are helping to fund a very important service because, on average, we fly three missions a day – and every lifesaving one flown in the HD postcode area has been paid for through Keep it Up.”
While the helicopters are based at Nostell Priory, the charity base is at Elland and the chairman is Huddersfield-born Peter Sunderland, the former Choral Society president.
Town’s commercial director Sean Jarvis – who has taken part in all the Pedal for Pounds bike rides – says the hard work has only just begun.
“Five years ago we thought maybe £50,000 would be a magnificent achievement, so to break £1m for such a good cause is mindblowing for the whole community,” said Jarvis.
“Keep it up has been a phenomenal success – not just through Walk for Pounds and Pedal for Pounds but because of all the smaller events which have been held throughout the region – and we see the £1m mark as the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.
“So we will be organising Pedal for Pounds 6, 7 and 8 and we’ll look forward to raising the next lot.”
Town had the YAA logo on their shirts in the 2009-10 season and wore a red and yellow shirt for the charity in a match against Southend United that season.
Over the five Pedal for Pounds events – the most recent being the Chapman Trail from London to Huddersfield this year – 635 people have taken part, covering a total of 1,250 miles and raising over £700,000 for Keep it Up.
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