A HEARTBROKEN widow broke down in tears after learning that an ‘air ambulance’ appeal she supported may not be genuine.
Marie White, 77, of Bass’s Crescent, Castle Gresley, had given the group, called the Air Ambulance Service, more than £1,000 in cash donations, as well as clothes, toys and mobile phones.
She made the donations after seeing a leaflet (pictured) asking for items that could be recycled and sold in UK shops.
However, an investigation has been launched by trading standards officers at Leicestershire County Council to determine whether the company is genuine and whether it has deliberately misled householders into believing they are making donations to the charity-run Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance.
Registered charity Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance has also confirmed that it has no connection with the company.
In fact, the organisaion responsible for the collections, which calls itself Air Ambulance Service (Trading Co Ltd), is a private firm based in Oxford and has no links with the air ambulance in Derbyshire or elsewhere in the country.
The telephone number printed on the leaflets costs £1.50 per minute to call, with complaints that queries are simply rerouted to a mobile phone answering service, which states the mailbox is full.
Text messages to register as an ‘air ambulance member’ cost a whopping £5 each.
Similar probes into the company are under way in several others areas of the country, including Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Essex following scores of complaints.
Mrs White said: “I am just shell-shocked — if these people are not the real deal then they should be hung out to dry.
“I cried for the first time in years when I found out.
“I know it sounds silly but it has made me so upset. Many years ago, my husband was saved by the fantastic work of the air ambulance and ever since our whole family has worked to raise funds for the service.
“So when I saw this leaflet, I visited their website and started to send in donations.
“I have never heard anything from them, but I didn’t think anything of it and certainly didn’t have any suspicions.
“Now that I have found out that they may not be a charity, I am absolutely gutted.
“The donations that I handed out could have gone to a place where they would have actually been used to help people.
“I and anyone else who may have donated to this company needs to know the truth and only then will be able to rest easy.” A spokesman for Leicestershire County Council’s Trading Standards department said: “We can confirm that the issue has been brought to our attention and one of our officers is investigating whether the company is genuine.” The Mail was unable to contact anyone from Air Ambulance Service for comment.
