Did you know that the Herts Air Ambulance receive no direct government or National Lottery funding?
It costs £480,000 per month to keep the helicopters from the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust flying and performing their life saving role – not surprising when they fly an average of three missions a day costing around £2,700 each.
The crews of a pilot, a pre-hospital care doctor and a critical care paramedic rely on the support of a team of over 200 volunteers to ensure that the helicopters wwhich carry full life support medical equipment can continue to fly. Hert’s MD902 Explorer helicopter flies at around 150 mph and can reach the furthest points of Hertfordshire within approximately 20 minutes of a call out, flying from the Air Base at North Weald.
There are of course, many ways to support the Air Ambulance and play your part in its vital work. The trust is always on the look out for volunteers. It doesn’t matter what skills you can offer or how much time you can spare, the trust prides itself on finding a way everyone can make a valuable contribution and gain experience at the same time so do get in touch if you think you can help.
Children can get involved too – there is a fun “‘Copter Kidz Club” for five to 11 year olds offering them the chance to help Pilot Pete save lives. Details can be found on the website.
This month the Herts Air Ambulance is being supported by an Open Garden at the beautiful Bride Hall on the border of Wheathampstead in Ayot St Lawrence. Bride Hall is a beautiful Jacobean House standing in 300 acres of stunning formal gardens, orchards and surrounding woodland. Its history dates back over 850 years.
Oliver Cromwell made his escape along one of the boundary walls of the estate, which is still standing. Soldiers were billeted in the barns during the 2nd World War. They had to be rebuilt after being partially destroyed in one of the bombing raids.
There will be live music on the day along with a chance to meet the Air Ambulance team, a plant sale and refreshments.
Another opportunity to help out this month is to enjoy tea, coffee and cake as part of the Afternoon Tea Fundraising weekend from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th of July.
Afternoon Tea is a initiative inviting hosts to sign up to take part and get their friends and family together for some tea and cake. You can make it as simple or as lavish as you like; hold it at home, work, school or even at your local club. Simply ask each of your guests to make a donation to the Charity.
Charity Open Garden,
Bride Hall, Digswell Village, Welwyn AL6 0DH, Saturday 4th July, 11am-4pm
Jen.Wall@EHAAT.uk.com
Afternoon Tea, Various locations, Friday 24th – Sunday 26th July
AfternoonTea@EHAAT.uk.com
www.hertsairambulance.uk.com
Life Saving App
The trust is offering a life-saving app which is available to down load FREE on both iOS and Android.
The Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust App has a unique function enabling users in the event of an emergency to give an exact six-figure grid reference to accurately pinpoint their location to the emergency services allowing the Air Ambulance to locate and treat the patient as quickly as possible.
