Comedy / GWAAC
‘Heli Laughs’ 2024 lineup includes Nabil Abdulrashid and Vittorio Angelone
Landing once more for its annual Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) fundraiser, Heli Laughs will be back at Bristol Old Vic on August 29.
The event has become a hugely popular night in the GWAAC calendar, as well as generating valuable revenue for the charity, 100 per cent of which will go towards operational costs for one of the UK’s busiest air ambulances.
Serving critical care and pre-hospital emergency medicine to patients, often at the site of accidents, GWAAC serves a wide geographical area encompassing Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire and some parts of Wiltshire.
is needed now More than ever
Without direct government support, the charity relies on lottery funding, legacies, grants, corporate partnerships, retail income and individual donations to keep ‘Helimed65’, their famous green and blue helicopter airborne.
At the time of writing, in the first six months of 2024, between Helimed 65 and their fleet of critical care cars GWAAC have undertaken 1,159 missions – surpassing their total in the first half of 2023 by nearly 200.
Nabil Abdulrashid, headliner of Heli Laughs 2024
Although GWAAC’s work is extremely serious, as you would expect, the comedy night will be primarily focused on the laughs, and the lineup will be promising those in abundance.
Fresh from a UK tour, headliner Nabil Abdulrashid will already be familiar to viewers of Britain’s Got Talent, Live At The Apollo, House of Games and Have I Got News For You.
He will be joined by Italian-Irish comedian, social media sensation and Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominated Vittorio Angelone, along with rising talent Matt Rouse, Comedian of the Year finalist Louise Leigh and the self-described “enthusiastic Bristolian and all round sasspot”, Dani Johns.
The veteran podcaster, speaker and award-winning comedian Stuart Goldsmith is back by popular demand as host.
Beyond the jokes, the evening will also include some insights about the impacts that GWAAC continues to have on the region it serves.
Four years ago, 16-year-old Ollie was badly injured after his bike collided with a van. The air ambulance arrived on the scene within 20 minutes and gave him a life-saving blood transfusion.
Members of the Helimed 65 crew
“On the day of Ollie’s accident, the crew left me a little card,” recalls his mother, Rach. “On it was written the names of the crew members who had been there – Tim, Pete and James. That little card has been in my wallet ever since.
“I can’t bear to part with it, because those three people are amongst the most important people in my life. I love them to bits. They saved my son that day, and that’s an amazing thing to do. You can do something amazing too, by supporting GWAAC. With your help, more lives like Ollie’s can be saved.”
Vittorio Angelone
Heli Laughs 2024 is at Bristol Old Vic on August 29 at 7.30pm, and tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk. Follow Great Western Air Ambulance Charity @gwaac.
All photos: GWAAC
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