The Royal Leek Lodge, with matched funding from the North Wales Masonic Benevolent Association, has raised £1,500 for Wales Air Ambulance.

Damien Thompson, who served in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, and the first Gulf War, chose the charity during his time in office as the 'Worshipful Master' of the Royal Leek Lodge.

Mr Thompson said: "I asked the brethren who they would like to see nominated, and they agreed the Wales Air Ambulance was a worthy recipient.

"It does such an incredible job for the people of Wales."

The Wales Air Ambulance is a consultant-led service that takes hospital-standard treatments to patients and, if required, transfers them directly to the most appropriate hospital.

The charity relies on public donations to raise the £11.2 million required every year to keep the helicopters in the air and rapid response vehicles on the road.

Mr Thompson, who joined the army at 16, said: "It’s important to give back to important causes that save lives."

Part of his role during his year in office has been to create fundraising opportunities and to "raise as much money as possible" for the Wales Air Ambulance Charity.

He said: "We were so fortunate to have the support of butchers John Hughes-Jones and his son Ieuan, who do hog roasts.

"They offered to donate a whole pig, which is a considerable amount of money.

"That enabled us to raise a lot more for the charity.

"They were so kind; they have plenty of land, so they let us use that too for our event."

Mr Thompson also organised a quiz night at the Bangor Masonic Hall.

He said: "It was great fun.

"Some of the brethren gave up their time to be quiz master.

"My wife Kate also organised the Ladies Night, and between our three events, we raised quite a bit of money."

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The Royal Leek Lodge raised £750, which the North Wales Masonic Benevolent Association match-funded, taking the final amount to £1,500.

Elaine Orr, Wales Air Ambulance regional fundraiser, said: "It was so kind of Worshipful Master Damien Thompson and his fellow members to nominate us as their chosen charity.

"We are hugely grateful for the support we have received and the number of events which have been organised in aid of our lifesaving service, as well as the generous match-funding from the North Wales Masonic Benevolent Association.

"It was wonderful to welcome everyone to our base at Caernarfon Airport to meet our team and find out about the work we do during the cheque handover.

"Our air ambulances travel the length and breadth of the country each day to help patients – without fundraisers like this, we could not continue to do what we do."