NFU Mutual Agents in Brecon have donated £6,379 to the Wales Air Ambulance in memory of their friend, Brian Collings.

Brian, who played five-a-side football once a week with Alan Bugler from the NFU Mutual Brecon agency, sadly suffered a cardiac arrest during a game. Despite the best efforts of his friends and the Wales Air Ambulance medics, Brian later passed away the same evening.

Last month, NFU Mutual Agents in Brecon presented the charity’s community fundraiser Helen Pruett with the donation, which was raised via the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund.

NFU Mutual has allocated a £1.92m Agency Giving Fund to support local, frontline charities during 2022.

To ensure these donations are distributed across the UK, NFU Mutual’s Agents, with over 295 offices nationwide, have been given the opportunity to nominate local charities to receive a share of the fund.

Alan will also be organising future fundraising events in Brian’s memory for the Wales Air Ambulance.

Alan, who works as an agent in the Brecon office, added: “As a group of football colleagues, we will be organising some small-scale fundraising events in Brian’s memory for the Wales Air Ambulance. We have also had the opportunity to allocate a charitable donation to Wales Air Ambulance through the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund, which will further support the vital contribution they make to our community.”

The Wales Air Ambulance Charity emergency service offers advanced critical care and is often described as a ‘Flying ED’. The on-board consultants and critical care practitioners are highly skilled and carry some of the most pioneering medical equipment in the world. They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthesia, and undertake emergency operations at the scene of the incident, before flying the patient directly to specialist care. 

Helen Pruett said: “It was lovely to meet everyone at the NFU Mutual Brecon agency, despite the sad circumstances. The money raised through the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund is a lovely tribute to Brian Collings.

“The Wales Air Ambulance needs to raise £8 million every year to keep its emergency helicopters in the air and its rapid response vehicles on the road.

“Donations, like this one, will help us be there for the people of Wales when they need us most.”

To find out more information on NFU Mutual’s charitable giving programme, visit www.nfumutual.co.uk/about-us/the-nfu-mutual-agency-giving-fund