Wiltshire Air Ambulance is among the charities to benefit from £10,000 raised in this year’s Chippenham Half Marathon.

The air ambulance, which depends entirely on donations to meet its £2.5m annual running costs, was given £3,000 at Chippenham Sports Club on Saturday.

Race organiser Ian Wiggins said: “We are really pleased that again this year the Chippenham Half Marathon is able to donate £10,000 to local charities and good causes. We are really grateful to our sponsors, runners and volunteers.”

Jemma Brown of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance charity team said: “We’re delighted with the support. Without community fundraising and donations such as this, there would be no air ambulance.”

The money has come from runners’ entrance fees.

Other charities presented with donations, of between £750 and £1,500, were: The Rise Trust, which manages three children’s centres in Chippenham; Wiltshire Search and Rescue, which searches for missing people and items used as evidence in court; Doorway, a Chippenham drop-in centre for homeless people; Moonbeams, a Chippenham pre-school for children in an area of high deprivation; Hannah’s Trees, which shares the magic of Christmas with young people with a life-limiting or terminal illness; and Emerton’s Foundation, which supports families with a child with autism or leukaemia.

A donation will also go to Girlguiding Chippenham West and Wiltshire North District Scouts, which helped with the event.

Planning is already under way for next year’s race on Sunday, September 7.