Magpas Air Ambulance’s Future 50 appeal, which is raising money to fund a new airbase for the UK HEMS operator, has been boosted by a £300,000 donation from the HELP Appeal.
The HELP Appeal is a charity that funds the development of helipads at major trauma centres, key accident and emergency hospitals and air ambulance bases around the UK. Its donation will go towards paying for the helipad at the new Magpas base at Alconbury Weald in Cambridgeshire.
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal, explained: “The HELP Appeal is best known for funding hospital helipads. But this isn’t all we do to help air ambulances save time in getting critically ill patients the emergency care that they need. We are very proud that this is our ninth air ambulance base helipad that we’ve helped to fund.”
Magpas provides emergency medical care to communities across the East of England. Operating a Leonardo AW169 helicopter, it can reach 12 counties and serve an area with a population of over 10 million.
The organisation needs to relocate because the land on which its current base is sited has been sold for development. It is taking the opportunity to establish a new base that will be better equipped to support its growing 24-hour operations.
Magpas has already purchased the site at Alconbury Weald, and its Future 50 appeal is looking to raise the extra £3 million needed to complete the project. It hopes to start construction at the end of this year.
Daryl Brown MBE, chief executive of Magpas, commented: “We are so grateful for the support of the HELP Appeal. This donation is an important step in making our plans for a new airbase a reality and achieving the aims of our Future 50 appeal: to continue saving lives and keep families together for future generations.”
