Support Air Ambulance Week

Thanks for the reminder Steve.  A very worthy cause to support and I can never understand why it isn't government funded.  Do the Lottery do anything to support?

Collection at a late family friend's funeral was for the air ambulance, as many people in their rural Leicestershire village had benefited from it.  

Living near a large hospital, I often see the West Midlands one either going into land or hear it taking off from the pad in the local park.  

Disgusting that they still rely on charitable donations.

Not sure if they already do, but if not the Lottery should send huge chucks of their pot to this fantastic cause rather than "the arts" 

Just googled it and not surprised that they do not receive National Lottery support either.  Many appear to be running their own local lottery to raise funds. 

I know the National Lottery has worked wonders for our athletes, but not supporting a vital service is wrong. 

The Childrens Air Ambulance has received lottery funding, and they have just announced they will be receiving 2 new helicopters, as they only currently have one for the whole of the UK.

£32 Million Helicopter Deal - Children's Air Ambulance

I think it's amazing what the Air Ambulance Service has done, and have followed and supported them from when it was just the fledgling Warwickshire Air Ambulance. But it does seem nuts to me that the Air Ambulance is broken up into lots of different privately run charities. 

In my mind it would make more sense to be run like the RNLI, be a National service, with equipment procurement centralised, economies of scale, standardised training, processes, equipment etc. Then different regions could seamlessly backfill in a major crisis. 

The Air Ambulance Service seems to be a step in the right direction, but next door to us we have the West Midlands Air Ambulance, with fund raisers getting hot under the collar as they step on other peoples patches. We need one service, one big pot of dosh, standard kit, and one huge army of supporters with a centralised marketing team raising support and awareness.

But until then, make sure you support your local Air Ambulance 

Steve, well said and great comparison with RNLI.  At ex-employer one project involved updating military living accommodation.  Project Manager visited the RNLI training college in Poole.  The photos he took made our military clients green with envy.  The RNLI ethos was that as most are volunteers then they deserve decent facilities.  Can't argue with that.

Totally agree about a centralised air ambulance structure.  What I can never understand is why "we" have separate charities for the same cause.  I've been approached by collectors for children's cancer (okay I understand the psychology there) and children's kidney cancer, but surely the cancer charities should be working for a cure for all types of cancer in children and adults.  

Aha we really are on the same page

I understand that the loss of a loved one motivates some people to set up foundations or new charities in the name of their loved one, to keep their name and memory alive. The fundraising these people can be awe inspiring, and it's amazing what a life changing event can do to someone who probably thought very little of fund raising previously.

But applying a business ethos, I completely agree there is little point in having multiple mini charities for the same cause. It would be more efficient to pool resources and concentrate all energy and focus on raising funds, than re-inventing the wheel and creating a duplicate organisation, and all the faff and hassle that no doubt goes with forming and running a charity.

Maybe established charities should have a franchise model approach. So you start a local group, but it's named in the name of your loved one, but supported and administered by the parent organisation. eg: Bob Smith of Warwick Guide Dogs? 

Or maybe they already do this