Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance is launching an urgent fundraising appeal as the charity anticipates losing up to £3million and the capacity to fly at night.
The initial impact of Coronavirus left the charity no other option than to cancel their fundraising activities and close their shops. They anticipate they may lose up to £3million in income as a result.
They have already had to scale back night missions, meaning their helicopter will not be making night missions at all as of May. This move is due to some of their crew being called back to support the NHS, while some are self-isolating, unable to travel or have become ill.
They continue to carry out life-saving missions every day but, along with a reducing service, they are concerned about the impact of this significant income drop when they are able to resume their service.
They need to be safeguarded against these effects so that they can continue their missions now and return to full capacity, while realising our ambition to be a full 24/7 service. This is where you can help. You can have a direct impact on saving lives now and well into the future.
CEO Karen Jobling said : “In order to safeguard the charity moving forward and ensure we can provide a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service to our local communities, I’m reaching out to people in our communities who are able to make a donation so that we can continue to provide a life-saving service.
“We don’t know at the moment whether we are eligible for the funding government has announced for frontline charities, what the criteria is or the timeframe in which funds could be accessed. We, of course, will be following this closely but we are in a period of great uncertainty for the air ambulance, so we are relying on donations more than ever to help keep us flying.
“We appreciate that this is a very difficult and challenging time and I hope people are keeping as safe and well as possible.”
Please visit their website, www.ambucopter.org.uk to donate or give them a call on 01522 548469 and if you fancy a haircut, a fitness challenge or have an ambition to grow the tallest sunflower, visit their virtual fundraising page and #chooseyourchallenge to raise money for them. Text SAVELIVES to 70085 to donate £10.00.