Christmas is the time for good cheer and generosity, and Grey Power Wanganui delivered just that at its 2025 Christmas function by donating $3000 each to Whanganui Air Ambulance Trust and Whanganui St John Hato Hone.
Grey Power Wanganui president, Nerrily Frith, is confident the associations donations would have a positive impact on everyone in its community.
“Although we are focused on promoting the well-being of people aged over 50 years, good medical care is for everyone,” she emphasised. “This is the first donation of this nature we have made and if we continue to have funds available, we want to continue gifting to community organisations.
“The Whanganui Air Ambulance Trust and St John Hato Hone Whanganui are vital services for everyone in our community, and our members are pleased to contribute to such worthy causes.”
Whanganui Air Ambulance Chair, Rex McKinnon, said the service has been operating since 1996 and he had been involved since its inception.
In addressing Grey Power members, he said: “We do appreciate the donation you guys have made and as an organisation, you do great work for the older generation of which I am one.
“We are totally dependent on donations to keep our services going and one of our primary jobs is to buy medical equipment to equip the aircraft which fly out of Whanganui. On average the number of patients transferred to other centres is about 60 per year.”
He added that the whole purpose of the trust was to ensure the people of Whanganui could gain access to the best possible medical care.
To provide this vital service, Whanganui Air Ambulance Trust works in with Air Whanganui, which supplies the aircraft and personnel, and also with Whanganui Hospital.
With funds also assisting St John Hato Hone, Pip Grant, chairperson of St John’s Wanganui also said she was truly grateful for the donation which would go towards protecting ambulance officers who worked tirelessly to help the sick and injured.
“St John has supported the Whanganui community for 120 years but increasingly, we have people coming round who are under the influence of things they shouldn’t be,” she said.
“They will often wait in the car park to abuse our paramedics and our ambulance staff. Now, [with this donation] we can install large, electronic gates so such people are unable to get near ambulance staff. It’s a sign of the times so this donation is gratefully received.”
