Wiltshire Air Ambulance appeals for funds as costs rise

Wiltshire Air Ambulance is appealing to the people of Wiltshire to help the charity continue saving lives as its annual costs rise.

It costs just over £10,000 a day to keep the life-saving service operational. A fifteen per cent increase in annual costs brings the amount needed to keep the service fully operational to £3.75 million.

This increase is due mainly to costs of advanced training for paramedics as well as the growing expense of numerous specialist medicines and painkilling drugs needed by the team during emergencies.

Wiltshire Air ambulance is not funded directly by the government and gets no National Lottery grants. 2018 saw a 26 per cent rise in missions – with its helicopter and Rapid Response Vehicles called to 1,103 incidents across Wiltshire and surrounding counties.

David Philpott is chief executive of Wiltshire Air Ambulance: “The support we receive from the people of Wiltshire and beyond is truly outstanding and as a result of their donations, our highly trained aircrew are able to continue to save lives.”

“It is a fact of life that costs rise and for Wiltshire Air Ambulance this will be fifteen per cent  this year. This is not an inconsiderable increase, but we hope people will understand and support us in our mission to carry on providing gold standard medical care to people who are critically ill or injured.

“No-one knows if they will ever need Wiltshire Air Ambulance but it’s reassuring to know that our aircrew, with their specialist skills, are able to respond to incidents such as cardiac arrests, road traffic collisions, strokes and sporting injuries.”  

For more information about fundraising for Wiltshire Air Ambulance you can call the charity team on 01225 300536 or email hello@wiltshireairambulance.co.uk.