By Chrissy Arthur
The charity Angel Flight has now flown more than 8,000 missions across Australia taking people from their homes in country areas to medical treatment.
Founding chairman Bill Bristow was in Longreach in south-west Queensland over the weekend where he spoke at a service club convention.
He says since Angel Flight began six years ago, the demand for services has grown to about 10 flights a day to help those in remote areas.
“If you know somebody who is having trouble travelling a long distance to get medical help, give Angel Flight a call,” he said.
“We’ve never refused a genuine request ever so the service is there and we’d like the word to get out there.
“I guessed [when we started] that we’d probably do about 800 mission flights a year and it’s now about 2000 mission flights a year, so the need is much greater than I thought it would be.”
Mr Bristow says despite the demand for services growing, fundraising and volunteers are keeping pace with the need.
“We started in 2003 and it’s grown and grown since then, it’s now a national service and we’ve now flown over 8,000 mission flights,” he said.
“It averages about 10 per day every day of the week – people who are in dire trouble, medical, financial and distance of course – who need to get to and from hospitals.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/26/2723978.htm
Source: ABC NEWS
Date: 2009-10-26