JULIE and Gavin Andrews’ world was ripped apart when their precious son, Joseph, died when he was just 19 years old.

The popular Barrow teenager lost his life following a car accident on the A590 in August 2013. Joseph had had a microsleep at the wheel, lasting just seconds.

Medics at Furness General Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital had battled to save the Furness College student.

The crew of the North West Air Ambulance charity had also treated Joseph and flown him to Preston.

The charity relies on public funding and the Andrews supported them as a thank you for doing all they could to help their son.

The family at first set a target to raise £1,900, reflecting their son’s age of 19, but as the support flooded in in tribute to Joseph, known as Joe, the new target soon became £19,000.

There have been football matches, cake sales, social events and personal challenges staged over the past two years.

The latest £8,000 raised has brought the total close to £30,000 generated through local people in memory of Joseph.

A cheque for £8,000 was handed over to the charity at Holy Family Catholic Primary School, in Barrow – Joseph’s old primary school.

The children were having a talk from the charity and they were also showing the Andrews the new benches at school dedicated to Joseph.

Mrs Andrews, 50, said: “We started with a target of £1,900 and that quickly grew to £19,000, and now we are nearing £30,000.

“It is overwhelming that family and friends, and people in the Furness area, have given this ongoing support.

“It is fantastic and for such a worthy cause.

“We met the paramedic who looked after Joseph and spoke to him.

“It was very emotional, but it was a good help to us.

“We know everyone who goes in that helicopter gets the best of care, they do everything that they can, whatever the circumstances.

“They are very professional, they are unsung heroes.

“No-one knows when they are going to need them.

“We, like others, didn’t realise that the air ambulances are not funded. You don’t realise this sometimes until you need them.

“It costs a lot of money to keep this service going and we see their helicopters over here every day.

“We have met quite a few people who have been helped by the air ambulance.”

Jenny Haskey, head of fundraising for the North West Air Ambulance Charity, said: “We are full of admiration of the Andrews family, they have gone to great lengths to support our service and help raise awareness of the work we do.

“The family has raised an incredible amount of funds over the last two years, which is a wonderful tribute to Joseph’s memory, and will go a long way to help to keep our three helicopters operational and saving lives.”

As part of National Air Ambulance Week the Evening Mail will also be featuring the work of the Great North Air Ambulance Service which also covers our South Cumbria and Millom communities.

Events of every type have contributed


Joseph Andrews FOOTBALL matches, afternoon teas, and lots of events in between, have all helped to raise the latest £8,000 in memory of popular teenager Joseph Andrews.

The Andrews family would like to thank the many people who have helped out, supported and given donations to help the fundraising effort which continues.

There have been various charity events, challenges and supporters.

Over the past year they have included; the Big Birthday Bash at the Nines in January; Posh Flowers; afternoon tea at Sacred Heart Church, KidFest; Barrow Wanderers and Nathan for Joseph’s Memorial Match; Barrow Labour Club; Rachel Martin for the raffles at the vintage fairs, CoCo Hair & Beauty; a £1,126 donation from Ryan Westwood and family; Angela Caulfield’s Balloons to Heaven; tombolas and cake stalls; Barclays Bank for the £1,000 through their charity match scheme; the Coniston to Barrow walkers; Joanne Casson for completing Total Warrior; all the lovely ladies who bake cakes and all the individuals, family and friends.

Mrs Andrews said: “We are so grateful for the ongoing support for The North West Air Ambulance.”

School pupils heard all about vital work of charity


TALK Louise Lloyd, regional fundraiser for the North West Air Ambulance, talks to students at Holy Family Catholic Primary School about the work of the charity LINDSEY DICKINGS THE children of Holy Family Catholic Primary School heard all about the North West Air Ambulance Charity during a special talk.

Last year Holy Family school raised £600 for the charity in memory of former pupil Joseph Andrews with a non-uniform day.

Inspired by the talk and the work of the Andrews family, the school council is set to plan another event for charity this academic year.

It costs NWAA £6.3m a year to keep its helicopters in the air for life-saving missions.

This comes through fundraising.

The charity has three helicopters, two yellow ones and a red one (which will be painted yellow) which fly 365 days a year with doctors and paramedics on board.

The charity has bases at Blackpool, Barton and Wirral.

The NWAA attended 35 per cent more incidents in 2013/14 than the previous year.

Incidents in Cumbria made up a fifth of the charity’s total missions in 2013/14. The most prevalent types of incident that NWAA attended in Cumbria in 2013/14 were medical, road traffic collision and sports/leisure incidents.

NWAA attended 380 incidents in Cumbria in 2014.

Louise Lloyd, a regional fundraiser for the North West Air Ambulance Charity, told pupils at the Barrow school about the life-saving missions the crews undertake, including here in South Cumbria and Millom.