A one-off donation of just £15 can help the charity deliver lifesaving care.
As the clocks go back this weekend (Sunday 25 October) and the darker evenings set in, Magpas Air Ambulance is launching an urgent winter appeal to close an unexpected £50,000 funding gap. Demand for its lifesaving service is at record levels while the cost of aviation fuel has risen dramatically; the charity’s fuel bill is currently twice as high as expected.
Magpas Air Ambulance takes a doctor and critical care paramedic team to people in life-threatening emergencies across Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and the East of England, delivering treatments usually only available in hospitals. From their base in Cambridgeshire, Magpas Air Ambulance can reach places such as Cambridge, Peterborough and Bedford in as little as seven minutes, bringing specialist care closer when every second counts. So far this year, the charity has been called to more than 1,500 emergencies, with each mission costing an average of £3,000. The charity must raise more than £6 million every year to keep its service running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Aviation fuel prices rose sharply across the UK earlier this year following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East. Magpas Air Ambulance was one of more than a dozen UK air ambulance charities to warn of the impact, after its fuel costs jumped by 82.5% in a single month. As Magpas Air Ambulance receives no government funding for its missions, every extra pound spent on fuel has to be raised through donations.
Former patient Sophie knows just how important it is that Magpas Air Ambulance can always respond. Ten years ago, her car skidded on a fuel spill on a country road less than a mile from her home near Ely, flipped onto its side and hit a tree. Trapped for more than two hours while fire crews cut her free, she was cared for at the roadside by a Magpas Air Ambulance doctor and paramedic, who gave her advanced pain relief and flew her to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in 11 minutes. She had broken her spine in seven places and was told she might never walk unaided again.
Today Sophie can walk, run and play with her children, and five years after the crash she ran the London Marathon to raise money for the charity. She said: “They didn’t just save my life; they gave me a future.”
Simon Lewis, Executive Medical Director at Magpas Air Ambulance, said: “As the nights draw in, working in cold and dark conditions brings added challenges for our teams. Our doctor and critical care paramedic teams are already being activated more than ever before, and every one of those calls is someone in a life-threatening emergency who urgently needs our specialist care.
“But more missions mean more flying hours, and right now we are paying around double what we planned for our aviation fuel. We can’t control the fuel price or the number of calls for help. But with the support of our community, we can make sure nothing stops us reaching the next patient who needs us this winter.”
A gift of £15 makes a real difference. Just 200 people giving £15 could cover the cost of a whole lifesaving mission, and around 3,300 people giving £15 could close the £50,000 gap entirely.
