A Chippenham car dealership has donated a new car to help Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) raise awareness of its life-saving service across the county.

Blade Honda in Chippenham has donated a new 1.4-litre Honda Jazz to be used by the charity’s fundraising team to attend events, talks and presentations.

The vehicle’s striking livery includes the message “Proudly supported by Blade Honda Chippenham” and includes a helicopter rotor blade design on the car’s roof. The dealership has supported WAA over a number of years and previously donated a car for the charity team to use at events. It has also undertaken a number of its own fundraising events in support of WAA, including the Wiltshire County Game Fair at Bowood House.

Cheryl Johnson, WAA’s head of fundraising and development, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Blade Honda Chippenham are supporting us again with this very generous donation of a car for our fundraising team to use when they are out and about giving talks in the community and attending the many events we go to and organise each year.”

Simon Hawker, general manager of Blade Honda Chippenham, said: “It’s great to build our association with such a worthwhile cause, especially during such a critical year in its history.

"I know the team at WAA works extremely hard and it is nice to contribute to its success.”

The charity will have to increase its fundraising from £700,000 to £2.5m a year when it owns its own helicopter from December. This comes as a result of its partnership with Wiltshire Police ending due to the force joining a national aviation service.