Great North Air Ambulance Service

The Durham Fringe Festival has chosen the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) as their charity partner this year.

The festival is taking place at six venues across Durham from 26 - 30 July, and will feature a varied programme of music, magic, comedy, dance and theatre.

To support the charity there will be collection buckets at each venue, which audience members can drop a donation in after watching a performance.

Stephen Cronin, festival director, said: “County Durham and the North East in general is an amazing place, and there is nothing better than getting out and about. You hope you’ll never need GNAAS but it can be the difference between life and death.

“We will be collecting for GNAAS after each of our 140 shows. Hopefully our combined audience of around 5,000 people will give generously to a wonderful cause even in these difficult times.”

Prior to the festival, Stephen, who is a retired paediatrician, visited GNAAS’ headquarters near Eaglescliffe to learn more about the operations of the charity, including a tour around the aircraft and looking at the medical kit they carry.

He said: “I had a great visit, it was great to meet the staff required to sustain and deliver this really important resource.

“It’s incredible to meet such a dedicated team, and a real honour to be able to pledge our support as the North East’s largest fringe festival.”

Ellie McIntyre, community fundraiser for GNAAS, said: “We’re very grateful to have the support of the Durham Fringe Festival. It promises to be a fun event and we hope everyone has a fantastic time watching the performances.

“For those who don’t know, we are not government funded and need to raise £7.7m a year through public donations to remain operational. We know times are hard for many, but if you value the work that we do please consider dropping a donation in one of the buckets.”

Tickets for the Durham Fringe Festival and a full programme are available online at www.durhamfringe.co.uk

About GNAAS

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.

• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £7.7m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok