Shropshire Star

Bridgnorth fundraiser Thelma nears £100,000 total for Midlands Air Ambulance

A Bridgnorth woman who pounds the streets selling raffle tickets for charity has almost raised an incredible £100,000.

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Thelma Price takes up the challenge every two years – and this year alone she has collected £24,000 for the Midlands Air Ambulance.

The 71-year-old from Fir Trees, Bridgnorth, has raised £98,000 since she began volunteering 20 years ago.

The Worfield Motocross Club member decided to start raising money after seeing the good work of the air ambulance crews when they assisted riders after crashes.

Miss Price said her aim now was to top the £100,000 mark.

She said: "I only ever sell raffle tickets but this year I increased the price from £1 a book to £1 a ticket, which nobody complained about. Even so it was a surprising amount."

Miss Price sells her raffle tickets once every two years, travelling across the county and beyond between the months of March and August.

"I've been all over Shropshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands," she said. "I've even sold tickets to a couple from Ireland who happened to be at one of the events I attended. I tend to go to biggest events like regattas and galas. In Bridgnorth there are things like Rally in the Valley and all the events along the Severn Valley Railway.

"I travel by car to these events and pop into pubs and places like that as well."

Sales of the tickets have grown each year. Miss Price raised £2,550 the first year, a sum which jumped to more than £14,000 and then topped £24,000 this year.

Maria Jones, Shropshire fundraising manager for the Midlands Air Ambulance, said it was people like Thelma who kept the air ambulance in the sky.

"Each time we're called out it costs £2,500 and across the three bases in Shropshire we're out on average 10 times a day," she said. "I really cannot get over what she has managed to achieve selling raffle tickets."

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