Colne House celebrates charity success

A care home which held a garden fete in memory of a much loved colleague has handed over the £713 proceeds to Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. Amanda Schofield, the manager of Colne House, in Earls Colne and Helen Bragg, the home’s administrator, were shown around the facilities of the air ambulance base in their village by patient liaison officer Tony Stone. Staff held the successful event in memory of support worker Sabu Matthew who was found unconscious in his car outside the Station Road home in November 2015. The father of two was helped by Mrs. Schofield and other staff members until the air ambulance arrived to take him to Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

He had suffered a bleed on the brain and sadly died without regaining consciousness. Mrs. Schofield said: “We were thrilled by the turnout to our event and plan to make this an annual fixture over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend. “The tragedy brought home to us the vital importance of the air ambulance and we want to carry on supporting the charity.” The fete included a range of traditional games and stalls and local businesses generously donated prizes for a raffle.

The air ambulance relies on community support to raise the £500,000 needed every month to keep its helicopters flying.