Monday, 20th September was another red – or perhaps I should say yellow – letter day in the life of the Charity, as it was when we received our super EC135 helicopter from Bond Aviation.   Let me share with you the myriad of emotions as the aircrew, Sherie and Kirsty from the Charity staff and I waited at Thruxton that evening for the arrival of the new helicopter.   There was, in abundance, expectation, anticipation, perhaps a tad of apprehension and humorous disbelief but, above all, excitement, which grew sharply as pilot Dave Bronniman and paramedic Mike Gregory brought what we quickly saw to be a magnificent machine over the early evening horizon.   After Dave performed an informal aerial photocall around the pad so we could all get our souvenir shots, the aircraft was on the ground and I welcomed it by formally receiving the key (actually to the fuel cap as there is no ignition key!) from Dave Bronniman.   After that we all fell respectfully but excitedly on the helicopter to see what we had achieved; we were ecstatic – it was everything we had wanted and more.   The phrase “boys and their toys” would have been really apt as we all got to know the new arrival but why not – the crew thoroughly deserve it and will put all its additional features to excellent use for the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.   12 hours later, they were operational for the first time with the EC135; you may have seen coverage of that on BBC South Today.