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£100,000 legacy for Great North Air Ambulance

An air ambulance service in Northumberland which was grounded last year due to lack of funds has been left a £100,000 legacy by an anonymous Northumbrian woman. The Great North Air Ambulance service was forced to ground its Northumbrian aircraft following a donation’s crisis after high-profile disasters such as the tsunami. Although service provision in Northumberland has still been covered by the Cumbria and Teesside aircrafts, this has had an effect on response times. However, the charity hopes that it will soon be able to relaunch the Northumberland service and is currently looking for an appropriate site. Speaking about the surprise gift this week which will go some way to funding the service, Sarah Booth, Public Relations, of the Great North Air Ambulance said: “We are shocked and delighted with this very generous gift. With thanks to this contribution we will hopefully see an aircraft commence flight in Northumberland sometime this summer, but we are still campaigning for sustainable donations like our give 50p a week appeal. Without these sustainable donations we will not be able to maintain this service month in month out.“One of the sites being considered is Bolkow in Northumberland. The cost of running the service from here will be on average £35,000 a month for a 5 day a week operation. Presently the charity receives £20,000 a month from the region. To make a donation please call 01325 48 72 63 or go to http://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .