Photo: Matthew Bell.
London’s Air Ambulance, the charity that delivers an advanced trauma team to critically injured people in London, has announced that it has been pledged a £2m donation from the London Freemasons towards its second emergency medical helicopter.
The charity recently launched its ‘Your London, Your Helicopter’ campaign to raise £4.4m to acquire and sustain a second helicopter and extend its daylight flying hours for five years. The £2m donation, which will come from some 1350 lodges in London, now leaves the charity with £2.35m left to raise (£50,000 has already been raised from the public).
Commenting on the pledge, London’s Air Ambulance CEO, Graham Hodgkin, said, “We are blown away by the generosity of the London Freemasons. The £2m brings us significantly closer to realising our goal of having a second emergency medical helicopter up and running as soon as practicably possible. Nationally, the Grand Charity of the United Grand Lodge of England has been donating to the air ambulance community for some years. Thank you to all those across the London lodges who will be working tirelessly to raise this additional £2m target.”
London Freemasons has launched an appeal to its 40,000 members across 1350 lodges in London to fundraise towards the £2m target. The London Freemasons kicked off the partnership with a cheque presentation of £250,000 on 5 March and will continue to hold fundraising events and dinners and collect individual lodge donations until the £2m target is raised.
Tony Shields, London Freemasons Metropolitan Grand Charity Steward, added, “London’s Air Ambulance delivers an incredible service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and we are proud to be raising funds to help this superb charity acquire and sustain a vital second helicopter.”
