The Lappa Valley Railway, based at St Newlyn East near Newquay in Cornwall, has named Cornwall Air Ambulance as its nominated charity for 2026.

The railway will work with the charity throughout the year to help promote its work and raise vital funds, with a special event planned for Saturday, 14th March.

Each year, the service answers calls for help from around 1,000 to 1,200 incidents throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which range from cardiac arrests to road traffic incidents.

The service receives no funding from the government or the NHS, and to keep it flying, every year it needs to raise more than £8 million.

Most of that comes from the generosity of the public, and without their support, Cornwall would lose access to its vital emergency medical resource.

Ben Harding, Lappa Valley’s Operations Director, commented that the railway is looking forward to handing over Lappa Valley to Cornwall Air Ambulance on 14th March, when the railway will waive its normal admission fee, in exchange for visitors donating to the charity.

The railway celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024.

With Valentine’s Day just a few weeks away, Lappa Valley has produced a song, Rolling Through Lappa With You, as a present for the railway’s 13 locomotives.

“We’re incredibly proud to name Cornwall Air Ambulance as Lappa Valley’s Charity Partner of the Year. Their crews are there for our community on the very worst days, delivering lifesaving care when minutes matter and when reaching Cornwall by road simply isn’t fast enough.

The helicopters are a regular sight flying over East Wheal Rose, sometimes multiple times each day in the Summer and every time I see one, I am thankful they are on their way to help someone in real need. So many families, from residents to holidaymakers, owe a huge debt to this charity’s rapid response and specialist expertise. Supporting them feels not just important, but essential.”

Keith Southwell, owner of Lappa Valley