'Yellow helicopter' fan Reuben sacrifices birthday presents to raise air ambulance funds

A young boy who is a big fan of the yellow air ambulance helicopters asked for charity donations for his fourth birthday.

Reuben Sandbach, of Great Barton, raised £250 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance when he invited everyone attending his September 2 birthday party to donate to the charity instead of buying him a gift.

According to mum Sara, the Great Barton Pre-School pupil’s love of the ‘yellow helicopter’ is strong, especially as his dad Matt flies the life-saving aircraft.

“Reuben is quite obsessed with aviation and the yellow helicopter in particular. Because it flies over Bury quite a lot we always look out for it,” she said.

“He asked for a cake for his birthday and we thought ‘why not take it a step further and do something for the air ambulance?’. He is fortunate enough to have lots of nice toys and clothes, so we thought it would be a good idea to donate his birthday money to the yellow helicopter.

“Reuben understood he wouldn’t get as many presents but it would mean we could see the air ambulance flying more, which he was quite excited about.”

So far, family and friends have raised about £250 for the charity, while Reuben did not miss opening lots of presents.

“We bought him a £6 plastic helicopter which he was over the moon with and he said the best thing about his birthday was his cake,” said Sara.

When East Anglian Air Ambulance heard about Reuben’s plan it provided balloons and flags for party bags, while Peta Wilson of BuryStBiscuits decorated air ambulance biscuits.

“Reuben knows daddy flies helicopters and if he sees them in the sky he will ask if it is daddy or one of daddy’s friends flying it,” added Sara.