Midlands Air Ambulance Charity boss: 'Generosity of supporters needed more than ever'
The boss of a life-saving charity which is continuing to respond to medical emergencies amid the coronavirus pandemic says the generosity of supporters is needed more than ever.
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity faces running costs of £9 million a year, but with its charity shops temporarily closed and a string of fundraising events cancelled it is under significant pressure.
Although several crew members have been called on to help within the NHS, the community-funded helicopter emergency medical service is continuing to fly to road collisions, provide critical care to cardiac arrest patients and respond to other medical emergencies on a daily basis.
Its teams have also been responding to a surge in domestic violence incidents.
"What we are seeing is the impact of the lock down on families and people who have reduced space to live their lives," said Hanna Sebright, the charity's chief executive.
Despite the lock down leading to a decline in traffic, she says there have still been incidents on the roads requiring air ambulance crews to respond.
Ms Sebright said: "Clearly the traffic on the roads has decreased but we have had a problem with drivers and bikers speeding.
"It's happened on a few occasions in the rural areas like Shropshire and Staffordshire.
"The domestic incidents, cardiac arrests, those kind of incidents are the day-to-day."
Meanwhile, it has also been working with organisations and support groups to reach out to its volunteers, and its own staff are making phone calls to check on their welfare.
The charity relies entirely on the support and generosity of people and businesses, with each air ambulance mission costing an average of £2,500.
It operates critical care cars in addition to three air ambulances covering Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands.
And facing significant cost pressures, Ms Sebright says the charity is relying on the public more than ever as the coronavirus crisis has dealt a huge blow to the charitable donations it receives.
Ms Sebright said: "We have seen a drop off which is understandable.
"Families and individuals are facing their own financial pressures.
"We have also had to cancel events. Our fundraising events are really important for bringing our communities closer to the charity.
"The support is critical. We need to maintain our helicopter emergency medical led service.
"We've had to re-forecast our budget for 2020. We are looking at a significant downturn in our income, but we've been proactively looking at new ways of working and ways in which we can retain our resilience going into the future.
"It's really difficult. This is the first time any organisation has been in this situation."
One of the events the charity was forced to postpone was its popular Bike4Life Ride Out and Festival, which was due to take place on Sunday.
Starting from Meole Brace in Shrewsbury, the ride-out takes thousands of bikers on a 23-mile route to RAF Cosford every year.
This year, the charity created a ‘virtual ride out’ film to mark the event's 10th anniversary and Ms Sebright says the response to a public appeal for photos was "fabulous".
Motorcyclists were asked to send in an image of themselves with their beloved motorcycles to appear in the film, which was released on the charity's Facebook page on Sunday.
It also hosted a virtual quiz on Friday with the help of TV and radio personality Richie Anderson.
Ways to donate can be found at midlandsairambulance.com/support-us/ways-to-donate
Ms Sebright added: "I just want to say thank you for the loyalty, kindness and support of our donors, volunteers and to the staff.
"We will come out of this stronger and more resilient."
