A GROUP of fundraisers who are hoping to raise £100,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance have said they are “getting close” to their total.

Janet Dale, Ruth Russell, Sarah Bogg, Angela Wiggle and Ann Baron, known as the A-Team, recently added to their running total after sleeping under the stars on the Yorkshire Wolds above Duggleby on May 6.

Ms Baron said: “A big thank you to all our sponsors. We made a total of £1,700 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance - it was a very easy way of raising money, sleeping rough in a field.

“No tents, just sleeping bags - luckily it was a fine night, but rather chilly. About 3am a sharp breeze started to blow across the Wolds and there was a heavy dew by morning.

“We all managed some sleep and we broke camp about 7am.”

The group started in 2004. Ms Baron said they chose the Yorkshire Air Ambulance as the focus for their fundraising because they realised that the newly-formed charity “was going to be a real life saver, especially to people living in isolated places miles from a hospital - and a helicopter could get to places a land ambulance would find difficult to get to reach quickly”.

Over the years the A-Team has raised a significant amount of money by holding supper dances, raffles, car boot sales, a clothes fair, cricket matches, an auction of promises, "proms in the paddock", a tandem ride over the moors and a skydive at Grindle near Bridlington.

They have also held concerts and other fundraisers at Sledmere House.

One event that particularly made headlines was a Calendar Girls-style calendar in 2013 called Ladies of Leisure. Among the participants were women who had had first hand experience of using the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

The group’s next event for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance is a bottle raffle at the grand car boot sale at Sledmere on July 16.

Then on Saturday, September 3,0 there will be an evening of music and song at Sledmere House. Tickets for that are £25, including wine and canapes, with further details from Anne Baron on 01944 758797.

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance is an independent charity that relies on the support of fundraisers to keep its helicopters maintained.