January 20th, 2022.



A former Young Mayor of Seaford has been appointed as one of the first Young Ambassadors to represent Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) in recognition of her extraordinary work to raise awareness of the life-saving charity.

As Young Mayor of Seaford 2020-21, not only did 15-year old Chanel Pritchard help by sharing information about the charity’s vital work across the region, but in addition, Chanel raised funds for her chosen charity, KSS – despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic restricting traditional events and opportunities to meet people.

To thank Chanel for her efforts and to celebrate all that she has achieved on behalf of the charity, KSS has invited Chanel to become one of its first Young Ambassadors, a group of inspiring young people who represent the charity helping to raise awareness of its vital work across the community.

Chanel said: “I am very proud to be one of the Young Ambassadors for KSS because they are an amazing charity that provides life-saving medical care. I was asked to be one of the Young Ambassadors as I had been using my Young Mayor’s position to raise money for KSS. This charity is very close to my heart, and I am extremely grateful to be a part of the KSS family. I am looking forward to working alongside the other Young Ambassadors to raise as much awareness as possible.”

Sarita Taneja, Community Fundraiser, KSS, said: “We are so very grateful to Chanel, who has raised a wonderful £1,564 for our charity.”

“Our Young Ambassadors have a vital role to play in helping the community understand more about what we do – delivering world-class pre-hospital emergency care 24/7 to the 4.8 million people who live in our region. They also inspire and generate support, which is critical as 86% of our total income is from the incredible generosity of our supporters. It costs £15.2M each year to continue to operate our service every hour of every day.

“I welcome you to Team KSS, Chanel, and thank all our Young Ambassadors from the bottom of my heart for helping us towards achieving our vision of an end to preventable loss of life from a medical emergency.”


About Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS)
Operating out of Redhill Aerodrome and headquartered in Rochester, KSS provides world-leading pre-hospital emergency care whenever and wherever required to save lives and ensure the best possible patient outcomes. Its crews of pilots, doctors and paramedics flew over 3,000 missions in 2021, the charity’s busiest year in its 32-year history. When the call comes, KSS can reach any part of Kent, Surrey and Sussex in under 30 minutes, bringing the emergency room to the scene to deliver life-saving care.

KSS was the first Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in the country to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In March 2020, KSS became the first HEMS to be rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in all five of its inspection key lines of enquiry: safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. In September 2020, KSS won the Charity Times Charity of the Year Award (income more than £10M), and in September 2021, KSS won Kent Charity of the Year and CEO David Welch was selected as Charity Times’ Charity Leader of the Year Award 2021.

Each year, the charity must raise £15.2M to operate its life-saving service. 86% of its total income is through the generosity of KSS’s supporters.


For further information visit www.aakss.org.uk