There is no single Air Ambulance charity in the England & Wales. There are a total of seventeen individual charities, each operating one or more helicopters in their given area.
The local one for Rockingham is the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, it operates from Coventry Airport, and flies up to 150 missions per month.
Thames Valley Air Ambulance
The Yorkshire Air Ambulance shot to fame last year when they airlifted Top Gear’s Richard Hammond to hospital following his 270mph crash at Elvington Airfield. People from all over the UK chipped in to raise over £150,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance in a very short space of time.
Each mission costs around £850. Monthly running costs can run to around £200,000 per helicopter. That’s just short of £2.5M per annum. Every penny is donated by individuals, or businesses. There is no government funding, and they do not qualify for any lottery grants due the rules that the National Lottery Fund places on any such awards.
The Air Ambulances all have one thing in common. They pick people up who need them, regardless of race, colour, creed, or how much money they have in their pockets.
22 Helicopters in service for the 16 Air Ambulance charities.
They collectively undertake 17,500 missions in a year
- 40% Road Traffic Collisions.
- 24% Other Medical Emergencies.
- 3% Hospital Transfers.
Collectively the Air Ambulances are the busiest voluntary emergency services in the country
Monies raised through ticket sales are distributed by the Association of Air Ambulance Charities, based on the postcode of the ticket purchaser.
Further information can be found at http://www.airambulancecharities.co.uk/
