The Duchess of Cornwall will be in Wiltshire next Friday (December 14) to officially open the air ambulance base at Semington and to launch the new £9million development agri-tech developments at the Lackham Campus of Wiltshire College.

While at Semington she will meet staff, emergency crews and view a special simulation suite.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance moved into a new purpose-built airbase in May which brought together the operational, fundraising and administrative teams together on to one site and on land the charity owned for the first time, securing its future.

Previously the helicopter and operational team were based in a hangar leased from Wiltshire Police headquarters in Devizes, while the charity team was based in rented accommodation in Calne, some ten miles away.

The charity’s aspiration is to become a world-class centre for training and delivery of critical care in order to continue to deliver the highest standards to patients and already has an immersive simulation suite for its critical care paramedics and doctors.

The simulation suite, which is the only one in the south west ambulance service region, allows trainers and crews to practise and demonstrate clinical skills in an interactive environment that feels 'real’.

The surfaces of the immersive simulation suite respond to touch, while sights and sounds provide context and challenges to the delivery of patient care – and the temperature can even be controlled between 5°C and 24°C.

The Airbase Appeal, which helped raise vital funds to build the new premises, recently won an Award of Excellence from the Association of Air Ambulances.

Colin Smith, 78, from Chippenham, also picked up an award from the Association of Air Ambulances.

Mr Smith is the charity’s longest-serving volunteer at 19 years’ service and has travelled 40,000-plus miles across the county, without claiming a penny in expenses, to help increase the number of charity tins from 50 to 1,000. He will be presented with a special trophy - on behalf of the charity - by Her Royal Highness on the day.

Later the Duchess of Cornwall will be at Lackham College in Lacock to launch construction work on state of the art buildings to transform the site into a regional centre of excellence.

The developments include the building of a new Agricultural Technology Centre, the expansion of higher education facilities, and the instillation of a high-tech robotic milking parlour and new dairy training buildings.

Her Royal Highness will mark the start of the project by visiting the campus to view the plans and to meet students who will demonstrate the latest technological developments in agricultural engineering.