Colin King from Moira is celebrating being awarded Volunteer of the Year by the Air Ambulance

Colin King from Moira, was named Volunteer of the Year at the Air Ambulance UK Awards of Excellence, which were held in Birmingham.

Colin’s interest in the air ambulance service and charity started 5 years ago when the service launched in Northern Ireland. He became a Club AANI member, giving a monthly direct debit to the service as soon as the scheme opened and in 2020 expressed an interest in volunteering. Since then, the relationship and his support have literally taken off.

Colin supports the charity in a number of ways including our event photographer, designated mascot volunteer ‘Helimed Ted’, assisting at many AANI fundraising events and playing a crucial role in helping the charity secure a three-year partnership with Translink.

Speaking after the awards, Colin said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have been chosen as Volunteer of the Year and to be able to bring this great recognition to Air Ambulance NI. It’s such a worthy charity and close to my heart. I look forward to continuing to support the team in whatever way I can.”

Ellie Smyth, at just 11 years of age, was named Young Person of the Year at the awards ceremony,

Ellie from Garvagh, Co Londonderry, sadly lost her father in a road traffic collision in February 2019, when she was just 8. The Air Ambulance Northern Ireland team were tasked to Ellie’s Daddy, but sadly he could not be saved. Since then, Ellie, her older brother, Harry, and their mum, Caroline, have become passionate supporters of Air Ambulance NI, supporting fundraising events, volunteering and organising their own fundraisers.

Following in her older brother’s footsteps, once Ellie reached her final year at primary school, she decided she wanted to lead her own event. She decided to host a party in honour of what would have been her Dad Peter’s 50th year. The event was a huge success and raised an amazing £16,000 for Air Ambulance NI.

Ellie was delighted with her award and said: “Air Ambulance NI is a very special charity to us, they do amazing work. We will do more fundraising to help save more people.”