Running the Bristol 10K to raise money for Great Western Air Ambulance

One of John Williams passions is to help local businesses to use their I.T. in an easy to understand and productive way, helping them grow and profit, which is why he has run his own computer business, Absolutely PC in Patchway for the last 9 years with his friendly and knowledgeable team.

John used to be a Toxicologist and still has a passion for all things medical.   His other pastime is learning to fly a 4 seater Piper Warrior aeroplane and in December 2012, he booked a training flight from Filton, as he wanted to experience his local airport before they closed it down and when he was there, he wondered what would happen to the emergency service helicopters that were stationed there.   After some investigation he was relieved to find that they were able to stay but that the Great Western Air Ambulance was in need of money for them to upgrade their helicopter.

So a worthy charity that combines flying and medical – there was only one choice for him and so started jogging, not much of a challenge 20 years ago when rugby, wind surfing, rock climbing and fairly much anything that presented a challenge at the time was the norm, but certainly enough of a challenge for John in his current fitness state by his own admission; “After I started university and the sporting activities slowly stopped whilst the diet remained the same, you can guess the outcome. Oh yes 18 stone of muscle became 19 stones of flab! ”

The charity: Great Western Air Ambulance, based at Filton Airport are one of the very few air ambulances who work to the “Gold Standard ” Critical Care Model, which means rushing a Critical Care Paramedic and Critical Care Doctor (the majority of which are volunteers) to the scene; Essentially they are a flying Accident and Emergency Department.

The team fly seven days a week, 365 days a year and attend over 100 incidents per month. They provide one of the busiest air ambulances in the UK.

In 2012 they went out on 1,957 missions.

They need to raise £1.75m a year to stay operational. They cover six counties with a population of 2.1m. Four incidents each day need the GWAAC team. On average, 25% of cases that they attend each month involve children and babies under the age of 16. On average, they attend one cardiac arrest per day. For more information on our Charity of the Year, please visit: www.GreatWesternAirAmbulance.com

It is vital, therefore, that these amazing and dedicated people can carry on their life-saving work, which is why John is putting in the effort and legwork and asking people to dig deep and help him and Absolutely PC support this great charity – Thank you.

If you would like to help John and  donate, please visit UK.VirginMoneyGiving.com/AbsolutelyPC

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