Midlands Air Ambulance Charity shows off its new £11 million base at Shifnal

Air crew, staff and volunteers at the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity are delighted with their £11 million new base which is just a short helicopter away from the old one.

Midlands Air Ambulance at the new base, next to RAF Cosford. In red we have Paramedic: Fay Pollock , and with her is: Training Manager: Emily Browne, in the simulation room where projections, noises, smells can simulate conditions they may have to work under

The air ambulance charity showed members of the media around its new facility in Shifnal on Tuesday and explained why it is such an important stage in the charity's history.

For the first time in 32 years, the airbase and clinical team are operating out of the same location as the charity’s staff team.

The base, which has two helicopter pads, has all the back-up facilities for air crew and medics and operations. It is now the HQ of the entire operation.

Hanna Sebright, the charity's chief executive, said: "This future-proofs us for years to come. The difference in the service we can provide is quite profound."

Comparing the new building on the outskirts of Shifnal with the old one in the grounds of RAF Cosford, is like looking at chalk and cheese.

The old building has one hangar and a what looks like a portable building that was used as an office. It will now be used for RAF fire engines on the base.

Meanwhile the new building, constructed by Morris Property Group out of 90,000-plus bricks - with a third of them donated by Ibstock Bricks - brings together paramedics and pilots with the non-clinical staff who are so critical to the working of any organisation.

Midlands Air Ambulance at the new base, next to RAF Cosford. In red we have Paramedics: Fay Pollock and Chris Brooke, and with them: Former patient of the Air Ambulance: Glenn Richardson (lives near Lichfield), CEO : Hanna Sebright, and Pilot: Tim Jones..

Midlands Air Ambulance at the new base, next to RAF Cosford. In red we have Paramedic: Fay Pollock

Some 40 staff are now based at Shifnal for the organisation that employs 120 in total. It has been operational since July.

"We had staff who worked for us who had never seen a helicopter," said Hanna.

"This gives us a one-team culture where volunteers and families can easily come and meet the medical staff and pilots. It has had a fantastic impact on morale."

It also gives them training rooms, meeting rooms and places where family liaison officers can meet and explain issues with patients and grieving families. There is even a chaplain on call who can help meet and discuss issues.

Midlands Air Ambulance at the new base, next to RAF Cosford. Emma Wood and Michelle McCracken in the fundraising team

Hanna agrees that a planning application for the new 22-acre site - which has a building covering the size of two football pitches and which covers and area of two football pitches - proved controversial for some. There had been local concerns about taking land from the Green Belt, as well as noise from the helicopters.

She said it had been a very sensitive issue and one that she "completely understands" for those who were opposed.