A FARM-based children’s nursery is flying high after raising £2,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

Following a vote by parents and staff, High Bank Day Nursery in Stapleton, Richmondshire, chose GNAAS as its charity of the year for 2018.

Over the last 12 months, the nursery has held various fundraising events, including a sponsored walk, supermarket bag pack, sponsored abseil and a Christmas fayre.

This has resulted in £2,000 being raised for the charity, which operates three helicopters, 365 days a year, across the North-East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria, responding to around 1,000 call outs each year.

High Bank Day Nursery manager Hayley Grainger said: “We set ourselves a target of raising £2,000 at the start of the year, so to reach this figure with our last event of the year, our Christmas fayre, is fantastic.

“We’re only a small independent nursery in a North Yorkshire village, so to raise this amount of money is significant and it’s testament to the great support we have received from our staff, parents, children, families and friends.

“We would like to thank everyone who contributed toward the events we held this year.”

Grahame Pickering MBE, chief executive of GNAAS, said: “We couldn’t keep flying without this kind of support. We are grateful to everyone involved in this brilliant fundraising."