Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Magpas Air Ambulance, East Anglian Air Ambulance and London Air Ambulance, their enhanced medical teams and air crews gather to mark this year’s National Air Ambulance Week.
Photo: Digital Photography by Rob Holding
For the first time in history, four air ambulance charities across the Eastern Region and the Capital have come together to raise awareness of the emergency pre-hospital care they bring to patients in their time of need.
National Air Ambulance Week runs from 11-17 September. To mark the occasion East Anglian Air Ambulance, Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT), London’s Air Ambulance and Magpas Air Ambulance are encouraging the public to support their local air ambulance in any way they can.
In 2016 alone these four charities alone were called out to 6787 serious medical emergencies, providing advanced critical care at the scene. All these charities rely on funding to ensure they can continue to deliver this life-saving service to thousands of people each year.
One of the many ways to help is to make a £1 donation for a helicopter pin badge. There are four pin badges to collect, each representing the four air ambulance charities, one styled on each helicopter. The badges will be made available for a suggested £1 donation throughout the MRH retail network, in other petrol stations and retail outlets across the region, as well as across independent shops, Stansted and other London Airports.
Throughout National Air Ambulance Week, these badges will also be taken out on bucket collections. Regardless of badge design, the profits will go towards the local air ambulance selling the badges, meaning that all air ambulances have the chance to raise the profile of their neighbours and highlight how all air ambulances work together for the benefit of the patient.
Maria Alexander, Head of Fundraising, EHAAT, said, “This is a huge leap forward for us. We want these badges to give us the opportunity to start working together more regularly and shine a light on the larger air ambulance community and the importance of the work we do. We usually have borders to fundraising, but there are no barriers to us saving lives and, ideally, this project will be a trial to continue and grow with next year’s National Air Ambulance Week.”
Mark Davies, Director of Development, London’s Air Ambulance, said, “It is fantastic partnering with our air ambulance neighbours on this brilliant project. National Air Ambulance Week is all about using our joint influence to raise awareness of our charitable status and the pin badge campaign is a really creative way to do this. It will also raise much needed funds so we can continue to deliver our life saving service, whilst demonstrating how the air ambulance community works together for the benefit of all.”
