The hugely successful All Wales Ploughing and Hedging Match, held at Cosheston in September, was hosted by the South Pembrokeshire Ploughing Society who have been highly praised for their very efficient site preparations and general organisation of the event.

Speaking on behalf of the RWAS Secretariat at a social function held at The Giltar, Tenby, Mr. Ellis Davies, field director, confirmed that he considered the local teamwork was second to none.

After being engaged in the staging of this annual match for the best part of 50 years, he said he would look back with great pride and gratitude to his many friends in South Pembrokeshire for putting on such a wonderful event - one of the best ever - on a splendid, picturesque parkland site so readily made available by David and Hugh James.

Chairman George John expressed his most grateful thanks and appreciation to more than 50 generous sponsors for their magnificent donations which had ensured the financial success of the occasion, the memorable blessing of the plough service and the welcome supper provided for contestants afterwards.

His committee had, he said, decided to distribute surplus funds to local charities as a result of which the RABI were to receive £500, the Paul Sartori Foundation a similar amount and the Wales Air Ambulance £1,000.

Mr Malcolm Thomas explained that the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) is a welfare charity which helps to change lives for the better by supporting farming people of all ages and of limited means when they are in financial difficulties.

“All RABI funding comes from donations and every penny raised in Pembrokeshire is spent in Pembrokeshire,” he said.

Every application for support is treated on its own merits, working with compassion, discretion and friendship not least for retired and/or disabled people in need of care home and home-help costs.

The way RABI can help includes giving one-off or regular grants, as well as provide essential household items and disability equipment.

For working farmers, RABI will find relief staff to help in a crisis or also offer specialist advice to overcome personal difficulties.

Mrs. Ros Raymond referred to the Paul Sartori Foundation as a charity unique to Pembrokeshire offering specialised, supportive care and advice for those in the latter stages of any life-limiting illness.

She said: “Care is provided in the patient’s home and we also aim to help those close to the patient during the illness and counseling through the bereavement period.”

Although costing the foundation £3,000 per day to run, the Hospice at Home service is provided free of charge and is available 365 days of the year and operates a 24/7 on-call service.

For the Wales Air Ambulance service - one of the busiest in the UK - Mr. Tony Key said that their helicopters had, from three bases, already flown 20,000 missions since its launch on St. David’s Day 2001 and now costs about £6 million per year to operate wholly dependent on public donations,

Each trip costs on average £1,500 and the pilot, with a doctor and paramedic on board, can have the helicopter airborne within three minutes of receiving an emergency call and, travelling at 150mph (over two miles per minute) can reach anywhere in Wales within 20 minutes. A helicopter is the only aircraft that can land on a road or even a back garden right next to a patient, saving valuable time in areas a land ambulance could not achieve.

The aim is to reach, treat and transport patients with the greatest speed possible to the most appropriate hospital for their needs.

He added: “Treatment within the ‘golden hour’ improves the chances of a patient’s survival and early recovery and it particularly vital when dealing with farm accidents, often in the most isolated of locations. It should also be note that around 400 of these are paediatric missions (children under 16 years) each year and approximately 30 per cent of missions are to road traffic collisions.