June 1: Charles Whitfield-King from Ipswich has won a photography competition organised by the East Anglian Air Ambulance as part of its tenth anniversary celebrations.  His photo of a threshing demonstration, taken during a World War Two Weekend at Wantisden, near Woodbridge, in 2009 was the overall winner of the competition open to photographers from the four counties served by the charity.  It will feature in a special fundraising calendar being produced by the charity for 2011.
The competition was launched by the charity in late 2009 with a brief for entrants in Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire, to capture images showing ‘the region at its best.’  Winning entries and those which the judges – including the charity’s marketing director Richard Robinson and Rowland Hobson, picture editor of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph – highly commended will also feature in the calendar and some will form part of the charity’s 2010 Christmas card collection.
Charles Whitfield-King said:  “I wanted to enter because I knew it was the air ambulance’s tenth anniversary year and, as I’m a keen photographer, it seemed a great way to support such an important cause.

I felt my picture showed Suffolk’s ‘hard graft’ past which is a contrast to our modern way of life and also fits well with the competition’s theme.  I was overwhelmed to hear I’d won as I understand the calibre of entries was very high.  The work of the air ambulance is fantastic and I admire all those involved with the service.  They need all our support.”
Charles, who works as a horticultural tree supervisor at the John Woods Nurseries at Pettistree, has been a life-long photographer.  His work has been recognised with many British Exhibition awards and he was awarded the DPAGB (distinction of the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) in 1996.
Richard Robinson, the EAAA’s Fundraising and Marketing Director, added:  “We had a great response to our photo competition and the talent of our region’s photographers came through clearly.  Many of the images were absolutely beautiful and we’re honoured to be using some of them on our Christmas cards for this year and for our 2011 calendar.  We’re grateful to all those who supported us by entering and to offer congratulations to Charles and the other winners.”