Media Release: Walkinshaw Drives Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance BTCC Text Campaign

Perth, Scotland – Friday 23 August 2013; Fergus Walkinshaw, son of the late Tom Walkinshaw, and his FW Motorsport team made a detour to Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance’s (SCAA) Perth Airport base yesterday (Thursday) to help launch the ‘text to donate’ campaign ahead of this weekend’s British Touring Car Championship event at Knockhill Racing Circuit.

While contesting the latest rounds of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, Walkinshaw is championing Scotland’s only charity air ambulance’s call for motorsport fans to support the service, launched in May 2013.

With tens of thousands of motorsport enthusiasts set to attend the Fife circuit, the 22 year-old racing driver is urging fans to text ‘SCAA 01’ to 70070 and donate £5 to help meet the charity’s £29,000 weekly fundraising target. Just 100 donation texts will fund one life-saving mission.

SCAA has already demonstrated its indispensability with its many deployments across Scotland during its first months of operations – over 110 missions in 13 weeks. It works alongside the Scottish Ambulance Service, currently increasing the helicopter air ambulance capacity by 50 per cent during daylight hours, covering the Scottish mainland and some outlying island communities.

Walkinshaw, the Motorsport Advocate for the Association of Air Ambulances, commented: “It was great to visit the airbase for Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance to launch the ‘text to donate’ campaign for the Knockhill BTCC event. When we arrived the helicopter had been tasked to a time critical emergency in the West of Scotland, highlighting just how busy this publicly funded service is.

“The demand for air ambulances in Scotland is projected to rise from 3,500 to 6,000 missions per year by 2020 with no additional state funding. SCAA provides a vital service 10 hours a day, seven days a week, and it needs our help to sustain that service. The ‘text to donate’ campaign is a really easy way that motorsport fans can support SCAA. Thousands of people will be at Knockhill and if a fraction of them text to donate £5 we could save a lot of lives across Scotland.”

Thanks to support from Knockhill, race goers can visit the SCAA charity stand located in the Trade Area on the approach to the Hairpin throughout the race weekend, or for further information visit www.scaa.org.uk

Scotsman Walkinshaw will continue to drive support for the ‘text to donate’ campaign across the race weekend, while relishing his return to his homeland circuit armed with his own team, FW Motorsport, for the first time. His Ginetta G55 sportscar will be carrying new charity livery to spread SCAA’s message, not only to the attending crowds but also to ITV4 TV audiences nationwide on Sunday.

-Ends-

FW Motorsport Press Office

Emma Spearing: +44 (0)7736 341828 | emma@fwmotorsport.com

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