Angel Flight is an Australia-wide charity which co-ordinates non-emergency flights for financially and medically needy people.

The donation was made up of extra funds the club had because the winning ticket in its Melbourne Cup trifecta was not sold, and therefore no prize money given out.

As it was an unusual situation, the Rotary Club of Narromine decided to support a charity rather than the local organisations they regularly donate to.

The donation was accepted by Elizabeth Allen from Yeoval who is an earth angel.

An earth angel is a person who picks up patients from the aircraft and ferries them to the hospital or other medical facilities.

One of Mrs Allen’s recent jobs was to pick up a mother and daughter from a commercial flight to Dubbo, organise overnight accommodation in Dubbo, then put them on an Angel Flight to head further west the next day.

Mrs Allen said that every week there were two or three Angel Flights from Dubbo to Sydney, with more flights from Coonamble, Cobar and Parkes.

All flights are free and assist patients or compassionate carers travelling to or from medical facilities anywhere in Australia.

Angel Flight pilots do not carry aero medical staff or medical equipment so do not act as an alternative to the Royal Flying Doctor Service or Air Ambulance.

The Angel Flight pilots are all volunteers who donate their time and the aircraft owners cover most of the maintenance costs.

However, Angel Flight does reimburse for the cost of fuel used, while staff also assist by negotiating the waiver of landing fees at airports across the country.