WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance has said farewell to one of its longest-standing volunteers.

Colin Smith retired at the end of October after 20 years of co-ordinating the charity’s collection tins and buckets.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the charity,” said the 80-year-old, a retired master in the Merchant Navy.

“I’m proud of the amount of tins in circulation and all the small change and notes that people donate all adds up and makes a difference.”

Collin, from Chippenham, has seen the transformation of Wiltshire Air Ambulance from the charity sharing a helicopter with Wiltshire Police and him working out of a portable building, to becoming a stand-alone air ambulance owning a helicopter and moving into purpose-built airbase at Semington.

Paying tribute to Colin, David Philpott, WAA chief executive, said: “Wiltshire Air Ambulance was established 29 years ago and Colin has been involved for two thirds of that time.

“We are very fortunate to have had the benefit of his expertise and enthusiasm.

“We thank him for his tremendous dedication in building up our network of collection tins all over the county and his efforts have enabled Wiltshire Air Ambulance to save countless lives over the last 20 years.”

During Colin’s time with the charity, the number of collection tins in shops, pubs and other businesses all over Wiltshire increased from 50 to 1,000, raising in the region of £500,000.

Altogether he has given 22,000 hours of his time and driven more than 43,000 miles.