Rutland & Stamford Mercury Business Awards raise £1,690 for EMICS charity

Guests at the Mercury Business Awards raised more than £1,600 for a health charity.

The Rutland & Stamford Mercury team selected Emics as this year’s charity after running a number of health stories.

Emics, which stands for East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme, is a network of volunteer doctors who support East Midlands Ambulance Service at the scene of life-threatening emergencies, often arriving before the ambulance service.

All of the equipment they carry is funded by donations so every penny raised is vital and guests were moved by a video at the beginning of the awards ceremony, which shared a parent’s story of how Emics doctors had saved their child’s life.

Dr Ben Coyle, vice-chairman of the charity, was there on the night and was overwhelmed to hear on stage from Mercury editor Kerry Coupe that £1,590 had been raised.

Dr Coyle, who lives in Leicester, said on stage that the stories he had heard throughout the night had been so inspirational they had made him wish he lived in the area so he could personally benefit from the businesses.

Also: pictures from the awards

After he left the stage, a further £100 was donated, bringing the total to £1,690.

He said: “I’m used to going to a talk for several hours and bringing home £40 or £50 and everything helps but to get this amount from such an inspirational evening is so fantastic.

“I want to thank everyone here for their incredible generosity.

“There has been so much enthusiasm in the room tonight. To hear the stories of so many fantastic businesses and be surrounded by wonderful people has been great.

“It has been both really humbling and really energising.”