Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife Emma are cooking up support for Cornwall Air Ambulance’s New Heli Appeal after pledging to become charity ambassadors.

The appeal which is celebrating after hitting its first milestone of £100,000 will now benefit from the support of the couple, who together run the restaurant, Paul Ainsworth at No.6, in Padstow.

Stirred to support the lifesaving charity’s £2.5m appeal to bring a next generation helicopter to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by April 2020 Paul and Emma said: “We are delighted to be ambassadors for the Cornwall Air Ambulance. Being based in Padstow, we see firsthand the vital emergency medical treatment they bring to our community and we couldn’t think of a better cause to collaborate with.

“We are particularly looking forward to helping raise the £2.5m for the New Heli Appeal. We’ll be supporting events held by the Cornwall Air Ambulance team and will be holding events of our own to raise as much as we can by 2020.

“The new helicopter will be invaluable to our community and will allow the air ambulance to carry on with the brilliant work it does for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly."

The New Heli Appeal was launched in April this year and aims to raise £2.5m to buy an AW169 helicopter that will save more time and more lives for the next 20 years.