THE amount raised by local football for the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity has reached a landmark £40,000.

The North Gloucestershire Football League has been supporting the charity through its three “Hospital Cups” competitions.

Gate receipts from the FJ Pope, Geo Sandoe and the JO Roberts Cups have been donated to the air ambulance for the past 13 seasons.

League president Mr Clive Wilkes told its annual general meeting that this year £3,000 had been donated to the charity.

A cheque showing the total amount raised over the last 13 years – £40,609 – was presented to Sully Sullivan from the air ambulance at the AGM which was held last week at Lydney Town Football Club.

Ms Sullivan said the crews who staff the air ambulance were “blown away” by the total.

She said: “This is an incredible amount, to hit the 40K is a massive achievement.

There aren’t many groups that support us that much and for so many years, and we really appreciate it.

The people who supported the air ambulance could feel “very confident” that the money would go directly to helping the community, she added.

Ms Sullivan said 2025 had been another record-breaking for the charity.

We had 2,344 callouts but 109 of them were in the Forest of Dean area.

“That's 109 people that had the best possible chance of recovery andsurvival.

“That was directly funded by you, because, as you know, we don't receive any government funding or lottery funding,

“We have to raise about £4.5 million every year to remain operational, which is a staggering amount.

“But when we have community groups like the North Gloucestershire Football League who support us year on year, it really does make such a difference.

That means our crews can be out and doing the best that they can bringing a hospital to a patient.”

On the day of the presentation (Wednesday, June 24), the temperature inside the helicopter had hit 43 degrees centigrade(110 fahrenheit), said Ms Sullivan.

“We can't have air con in it because our medical kit weighs so much

“With the weight of the crew, it’s completely stripped down.

“So in days like this, when they're sweltering away, going out to patients who desperately need our help, it’s incredible to come out here and receive a cheque like this.

“Thank you all for your hard work, we really, really appreciate it.”

She also extended an invitation to visit the airbase at Almondsbury.

“Some of you came last year. and I hope you got to see the impact this fundraising has.”

Mr Wilkes said: “It's a fantastic achievement by all you clubs connected with the North Gloucester League.”

He gave special thanks to Richard Cooper for his work in organising the presentations.

“I give special thanks to Richard Cooper for all his work over the years working with the Great Western Air Ambulance, organising all the presentations and everything that goes with it. “It doesn’t just happen, there’s a lot of work goes into it.”