Trusteed of the new Wiltshire Air Ambulance charity say they are proud to be leading it into a new era.

After years of lobbying, the Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) has agreed to relinquish its sole trusteeship of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal.

Eight trustees have been appointed to the new charity, Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust.

They met David Philpott, the chairman of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal, on Monday and signed the memorandum and articles of association.

Mr Philpott was appointed by GWAS to head the appeal as an independent charity.

Trustees include Mandy Clarke, of Chippenham, a former RAF officer and director of a human resources and executive coaching company.

Mrs Clarke, 45, has two daughters, aged 14 and 17, who were friends of three Chippenham boys killed in a crash on the A342 at Rowde on New Year’s Eve.

She said: “I saw how the deaths of the boys affected the community. The air ambulance did save one of the boys in the car. I think it’s a fantastic operation which I want to see flourish in the future to save more lives.”

Another trustee, Chris Lear, 54, of Calne, said the air ambulance came to the aid of his friend, retired RAF pilot Keith McPhee, of Corsham, who died following a glider accident at Keevil Airfield five years ago.

Paul Ford, 64, of Heddington, a retired businessman, is also a trustee and has been a volunteer for the air ambulance appeal for a year, along with his wife, Janet.

He said: “We are a rural community and it’s just absolutely essential.”

The other new trustees are Dr Harirathnajothi Ahilan, a GP living in Chippenham; Peter Foskett, a solicitor living in Colerne; Sanjeen Payne-Kumar, of Devizes, who owns a software company; George Weldon, of Marlborough, retired and former chief operating officer (Europe) for Deloittes and Richard Youens, a retired loss adjuster living in Rushall.

The trustees will meeting in the next few weeks to appoint a chairman.

* GWAS has confirmed money raise by the appeal will no longer pay air ambulance paramedics’ wages. The £240,00 annual cost will be met by NHS Wiltshire.