Cornwall Air Care Lottery

THE AIR AMBULANCE LOTTERY - BY BILL PEARCE.

1988 was going to be, one way or another, a year of great change for me. I had for 16 years been commercial manager of Plymouth Argyle Football Club, Making a major contribution to the club's finances through the years of falling attendances, increased cost on the transfer market and players' wages and the upkeep of ground and facilities. To the man in the street, this may give the impression of a very contented, successful and well satisfied career man.

Not so, in my case, however. The death of my son Robin from leukaemia at the age of eleven in 1985 had left a scar on my life which seemed impossible to erase. I felt in a rut, generally disenchanted and needing the challenge of something new, worthwhile and of benefit to others to free me from the over-riding depression which the loss of my son had brought.

It was just after my contract with Plymouth Argyle had expired that the First Air Ambulance came into my life. This, I felt, may be the thing I had been looking for, the motivation needed to get my world into gear again.

Whilst at Argyle, I had introduced the country's first and most successful football lottery competition, an idea that had been studied and subsequently copied by even the most prestigious clubs in the Football League. Being a true born and proud Cornishman, I wondered whether something similar might be achieved to help the country's first helicopter ambulance service which I knew had existed for over a year in my county, solely on the strength of public subscriptions.

My offer of help having been accepted by the First Air Ambulance Service Trust, the first step was to organise a network or couriers and agents throughout the county. My experience told me this would not be easy. The lottery boom years of the 1970's were long gone and bearing in mind that over 20,000 tickets would have to be sold each week to make the enterprise viable. I anticipated a hard task ahead of me.