NFU Mutual in Brecon has donated £6,379 to the Wales Air Ambulance in memory of their friend, Brian Collings of Abergavenny.

Brian, who played five- a-side football once a week with Alan Bugler from NFU Mutual, played in a group of footballers (The Hardballers) every Thursday night at Pen-Y Pound pitch.

And it was during one of their matches that Brian sadly suffered a cardiac arrest during a game.

Despite the best efforts of his friends and the Wales Air Ambulance medics Brian later passed away the same evening.

Last month NFU Mutual in Brecon presented the charity’s community fundraiser Helen Pruett with the donation, which was raised via the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund.

NFU Mutual has allocated a £1.92m Agency Giving Fund to support local, frontline charities during 2022. 

To ensure that this fund is distributed across the UK, each agency can nominate one charity local to all of their office locations to receive a one-off donation of £6,379 (an equal share of the fund).

Alan will be organising future fundraising events in Brian’s memory for the Wales Air ambulance.

Alan who works as an agent in the Brecon office added: “As a group of football colleagues, we will be organising some small-scale fundraising events in his memory for the Wales Air Ambulance shortly.

‘‘However, there was an opportunity to allocate a charitable donation to Wales Air Ambulance through the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund at the Brecon Agency.”

On Sunday (July 24) members of the Hardballers Football Club accompanied by wives, partners, and friends of Brian Collings took park in a memorial fundraising walk.

Starting from the Henderson Hall in Talybont on Usk at 9.30am the walkers completed the 16 mile journey along the Brecon to Pontypool Canal finishing up at The Bridge Inn Llanfoist for refreshments and sausage and chips.

The Hardballers hope to raise in excess of £1,000 from this charity event in support of Mind Monmouthshire and Wales Air Ambulance, and in dedication to their friend and former member Brian Collings.

The Wales Air Ambulance Charity emergency service offers advanced critical care and is often described as a ‘Flying ED’.

The on-board consultants and critical care practitioners are highly skilled and carry some of the most pioneering medical equipment in the world.

They can deliver blood transfusions, administer anaesthesia, and undertake emergency operations at the scene of the incident, before flying the patient directly to specialist care.   

Helen Pruett said: “It was lovely to meet everyone at NFU Mutual at their offices in Brecon, despite the sad circumstances.

‘‘The money raised through the NFU Mutual Agency Giving Fund is a lovely tribute to Brian Collings.

‘‘The Wales Air Ambulance needs to raise £8 million every year to keep its emergency helicopters in the air and its rapid response vehicles on the road. Donations, like this one, will help us be there for the people of Wales when they need us most.”

To find out more information on NFU Mutual visit www.nfumutual.co.uk

Pictured below are those who took part in the memorial walk in memory ob Brian Collings