The Air Ambulance Service needs the help of the public to build a new home
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
The charity – which receives no NHS funding – responded to 3460 emergencies across Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire Leicestershire and Rutland last year, and is currently launching many of its lifesaving missions from Coventry Airbase, which is scheduled to close in the summer of 2026.
The Air Ambulance Service charity operates helicopter emergency medical services under the name “Your Local Air Ambulance” covering Warwickshire and Northamptonshire from Coventry Airport and covering Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland from Nottingham Heliport. It also operates the “National Children’s Air Ambulance”, a one-of-a-kind dedicated helicopter transfer service that has taken more than 1,200 critically ill babies and children to hospitals where they can receive the best care.
To continue delivering emergency care to patients in critical situations, the charity is about to launch an appeal to ask the public to support a new base outside Catthorpe near the border between Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northampton.
The Air Ambulance Service Chief Executive Officer Peta Wilkinson explained: “A quarter of the UK population say they know someone that has been helped by an air ambulance*. But a mission doesn’t start when we take to the air – it starts with someone choosing to support their local air ambulance charity with a donation.
“Until now we have always needed to use rented premises for our helicopters and rapid response vehicles, but this is no longer sustainable. We urgently need a permanent base that is owned by the charity so that we can secure our future and continue to provide care in the air in the fastest time possible.
“This site in Catthorpe is perfect as it lies at the centre of the three counties, with superb access to the M1 and M6. Because of the vital nature of the project, we are investing substantially from our reserves but hope that we can count on the support of the communities we help.”
Patients will benefit from:
Faster response times thanks to the improved location.
State-of-the-art facilities for crews to train and rest.
Dedicated family-friendly spaces for aftercare and recovery support.
A strengthened National Children’s Air Ambulance service to meet growing demand for paediatric transfers.
Peta Wilkinson continued: “Businesses, organisations and individuals can all contribute in a variety of ways to what we are calling our “Big Bases Appeal”, but every penny will provide security for a service that any one of us may need one day.”
For more information on the Big Bases Appeal and the build project, visit https://theairambulanceservice.org.uk/big-bases-appeal/
Written by Nadira Sultana
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