The Cornwall Air Ambulance helicopter was star of the show at this year's Royal Cornwall Show on the charity stand.

Situated right in the middle of the showground, the air ambulance was visited this year by record numbers, and the paramedic air crew who all volunteered their time to help the charity, lost count of the number of children who climbed on board to take a closer look inside.

Supported by community volunteers, and with everyone mucking in to help out, inclusing the charity trustees, everyone had a brilliant time talking to members of the public about the work of the helicopter.

Many patients who have been air lifted over the years came to see us and say thank you.

Several presentations and donations were made during the show, including generous support pledged from local companies who offered the charity a pressure washer to help care for the helicopter and some new signage for our expanding range of charity shops.

Lots of local businesses expressed an interest in supporting the charity through all sorts of means, from payroll giving schemes to donations from their charity grant funds.

 The most common questions was "is this the real helicopter?" And of course the answer was yes!  A huge thank you must go to the operating company who provided a spare air ambulance helicopter. Manned by our dedicated air crew, and fully equipped as usual, the yellow EC135 affectionately known as SPHU was sighted several times during Royal Cornwall Show week, all around the county.

Another massive thank you to Valtra Tractors, who helped tow the Cornwall Air Ambulance to its take off site on the Sunday after the show - sadly the fabulous weather didn't last and we needed a few extra horsepower to get the helicopter safely off the grass!

All in all everyone had a brilliant time, and we hope that if you came to see us, you were inspired to get in touch and get involved.