Great North Air Ambulance Service

Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is asking businesses to consider donating the cost of one extra meal at the staff Christmas party to help keep the helicopters in the air over the festive period.

It is entirely charitably funded with each mission costing on average £4,478, and the service needing to raise around £8m annually.

In December 2021 the teams attended 151 incidents, including two on Christmas Day.

David Stockton, chief executive of GNAAS said: “It would be amazing if businesses donated the cost of one, two or ten extra meals at their Christmas dos to help us over the holiday time.

“For example if your party is costing £50 a head then donate £50 to us – if lots of companies did that it would make a huge difference. We are available to the people of the North East and Cumbria 365 days a year, so when people are sitting down to their Christmas meals, whether at the office party or at home our dedicated pilots and medics are standing by to save lives.

“We understand that times are tough for many people and businesses at the moment but lots of smaller donations quickly add up and become a significant amount.”

To donate go to https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/support-us/donations/donate-online-2/

ENDS

NEWS RELEASE: ISSUED ON BEHALF OF GREAT NORTH AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE

CONTACT: Caroline Walker on 01325 363436

Pic caption: 1. David Stockton

2. Some of the GNAAS operational team

Notes to editors:

Great North Air Ambulance Service provides air ambulance services across the North-East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. It is entirely funded by charity. Working with the NHS and fellow emergency services, GNAAS has become an important part of the region’s major incident response.

Key stats and figures Apr 2021 – Mar 2022

Total number of call-outs – 1732

Average per week – 33

Average per day - 5

Average cost per call-out - £4,478