A LIFE-SAVING local charity is flying high after receiving a cash boost from The Press’s parent company.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) has been given £5,340 by the Gannett Foundation, while another local charity, Riccall Regen Centre, a community centre in Riccall, south of York, has received £2,000.

The Foundation is the charitable arm of Gannett Co Inc, owner of Newsquest Media Group, which publishes regional and local newspapers, websites and magazines across the UK, including The Press.

YAA will use the £5,340 to buy new oxygen cylinders that are needed on board its two helicopters. The money will pay for six cylinders.

Caroline Myers, grants and trusts officer at the charity, which relies on donations, said: “We are delighted to receive this support from the Gannett Foundation.

“As a charity we need to fundraise £12,000 each day to keep both helicopters flying as and when needed. This is only achieved thanks to the kind support given by local people, organisations, and trusts and foundations of Yorkshire each year.

“Thank you for awarding this very generous grant, it will undoubtedly help save lives in Yorkshire.”

The YAA’s critical care teams treat, on average, three patients each day and, of these, two will require vital oxygen therapy at the scene of the incidents.

From April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017, the charity undertook 1,414 missions, its critical care teams treated 1,183 patients at the roadside and the helicopters airlifted more than 580 people to hospital.

The Riccall Regen Centre, a community centre built, funded and operated by the community, for the community, will use the £2,000 towards its Changing Places project.

It wants to adapt one of its changing rooms at the community centre for the use of older children and adults with disabilities.

The main items needed for the project, which is expected to cost £30,000 altogether, are an electric height adjustable changing table, a ceiling hoist and a height adjustable washbasin.

Doreen Watson, a trustee of the centre, said: “The project will mean we will be able to make our centre accessible to everyone, not just people with disabilities but their whole families.

“We are delighted the Gannett Foundation is willing to support us.”

The centre holds various events, including meetings, weddings, christenings and parties. Doreen said the Changing Places project will mean people with disabilities will be able to change “with dignity” at the centre.

The Gannett Foundation provides funding to support projects and organisations in areas where Newsquest operates. The funds are managed by the Quartet Community Foundation and, in the last 10 years alone, the Gannett Foundation has made grants in the UK totalling nearly £4 million.