VINTAGE tractor enthusiasts took their vehicles to the highest point in the Forest as part of a pub’s fund-raising day for the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC)..

As well as being the base for the tractor rally, the day at the Upper Bilson Inn in Cinderford included live music from Michael Jackson tribute act Gathan, a buffet and a meat raffle.

The day raised more than £2,000 for the charity which says it helped a record 1,159 people in the first six months of this year.

About two dozen tractors and other vehicles from the Forest Vintage Vehicle and Machinery Club made the trip to Pan Tod at Ruardean, returning to the pub via the former brickworks site on the outskirts of Cinderford..

Following the run, landlord Rowland Pritchard said: “We had a lot of support along the route, it was excellent.”

Landlady of the Upper Bilson, Carol Reddcliff, has been a supporter of the air ambulance for some 10 years after her son was airlifted to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol following a motorbike accident in 2013.

She said: “He snapped his spine coming off his motorbike in the woods and he was airlifted out. Without the air ambulance he would have died.

“We’ve raised about £10,000 with meat raffles and everything else.”

The charity is set for a record year and has forecast that this could be around 400 extra call-outs compared to 2023 – on average, that’s an extra person every day who needs the specialist skills of GWAAC’s critical care team.

Operating costs have also been increasing for the Almondsbury-based air ambulance and critical care service. The average cost per mission is now around £2,200 — an increase of 10 per cent.

Tim Ross-Smith, GWAAC’s Operations Officer, said: “We’re asking the public to consider giving us a regular donation so that we can continue to be prepared well into the future. You can help us be there for anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

To find out more about the work of the air ambulance and how you can support the charity, visit www.gwaac.com