CANVASSERS hoping to recruit new members to the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity fund-raising lottery have been training to spot the signs of dementia.

The aim is to prevent vulnerable people from being signed up to the scheme and make sure the charity works to the highest standards of fund-raising excellence. The canvassers recently went through training to identify the signs of dementia.

Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s Life Saving Lottery generates over £3 million each year, with over 60,000 members each week paying just £1 with the chance of winning £1,000. Following the training provided by the Alzheimer’s Society, the charity’s canvassers now have ‘Dementia Friend’ status, and will wear a distinctive badge when recruiting new members.

While the lottery is a much relied upon source of income for the service, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity always promotes responsible fundraising.

The new Dementia Friend initiative is part of the charity’s wider commitment to its supporters, as detailed in its Code of Canvassing Practise and Donor Promise, which can be found at www.midlandsairambulance.com.

Jason Levy, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “The Dementia Friend initiative has been welcomed by the Lottery team and our donors alike.

“If one of our canvassers believes a person they are speaking to has dementia, they will leave our Life Saving Lottery application with them to speak to a family member about rather than signing them up straight away. This has given our supporters and their families further peace of mind.”

For more information on Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and for details on the Life Saving Lottery, please visit www.midlandsairambulance.com or call the team on 0800 8 40 20 40.

• Midlands Air Ambulance is the charity responsible for funding and operating three air ambulances serving the communities of six Midlands counties: Worcestershire , Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands. This constitutes the largest air ambulance operating region in the UK.

• Since 1991, the charity has responded to more than 46,000 missions averaging 2,000 per year, making it one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance organisations in the UK.

• The charity’s three aircraft each carry a crew comprising pilot, two paramedics or flight doctors plus full life-support medical equipment. Operating from strategically located regional airbases, 90 per cent of the region is within reach within eight minutes.

• If a patient reaches hospital within the “Golden Hour” (60 minutes after their injury) their chances of survival are dramatically increased. That is why the rapid response of the Midlands Air Ambulance is so vital in an emergency situation.

• The helicopters are based at the M5 Strensham Services, Worcestershire, RAF Cosford in Shropshire and Tatenhill Airbase, near Burton-on-Trent Staffordshire.