North West Air Ambulance Charity is celebrating 25 years of saving lives – and you can help them save more

The praise and thanks on their website says it all:

‘Without the North West Air Ambulance Charity, Ruby would have lost her sight’.

‘Without their lifesaving intervention, Nicola wouldn’t have survived’.

‘The Air Ambulance is the reason why Dylan is alive now. One hundred million per cent’.

Since it was launched in 1999 the North West Air Ambulance Charity (NWAA) has been called to over 45,000 missions and saved tens of thousands of lives – and it wants to carry on saving more.

It’s marked the anniversary of 25 years of its incredible service with a Thankathon to celebrate the spirit of generosity and showcase how community donations and fundraising have made a huge difference to its mission.

But it’s clear that it doesn’t want to stop there.

This year the charity needs to raise £18 million to carry on doing the vital work it does.

Rachel Foy, PR and Communications Officer said:

“And we look at that as a positive, the amount we need to raise has risen from £12 million to £18 million, and it’s gone up because we are doing more and more every year and increasing the pre-hospital medical interventions we offer.”

“We have expanded massively in terms of where we were 25 years ago and where we are now, and we want that to continue.”

NWAA has helicopters and critical care vehicles operating 365 days a year, with highly skilled specialist doctors and critical care paramedics on board providing enhanced pre-hospital care and hospital transfers to critically ill and injured patients across the North West.

It covers an area of more than 5,500 square miles with a population of more than 8 million people.

“Our aim is to bring the hospital to the patient,” explains Rachel. “We get doctors, paramedics and critical care to people, along with equipment that’s normally only used in a hospital setting, so we’re able to do things like surgery at the roadside. Our doctors and paramedics are doing interventions like that on a daily basis.

“Whether someone is on a hillside in Cumbria, an hour and a half away from hospital; at the side of the motorway; in the middle of a car park in Liverpool, or at their home, we can be there.”

The medical interventions provided at scene by NWAA’s highly skilled and experienced team give patients the best chance of survival after a serious accident or life-threatening sudden illness.

And its capabilities and services keep growing:

* This year, the charity has introduced blood on board all its vehicles allowing critical blood transfusions to be administered at the scene of emergencies

* It has expanded its night car service from two nights per week to seven nights to enable its critical care paramedics and doctors to give critical care coverage from 6pm to 2am

* This year so far, they have attended 2,949 incidents, 300 in Merseyside

Rachel continues: “We try our best to get there when people need us most. And it’s not just the care. Our teams will evaluate which hospital the patient needs to be taken to for the most appropriate care for their needs.”

This year NWAA has held flagship events like its Race Against Time and family fun days to raise money and awareness of what it is and what it does.

For 2025, it will be the official charity sponsor for the Liverpool Half Marathon in March.

And it will host more fundraising events to support its work, including a fire-walk in February, and a skydive in March – all bucket list challenges that will help people to push themselves to the limits, while helping North West Air Ambulance Charity to achieve its goal of helping more and more critically ill people.

It will also carry out more research in 2025 to determine what else it can do to reach more people and increase their chances of survival.

How you can help:

* You can help by donating money or taking part in any of NWAA’s fundraising events

* You can volunteer to host a collection tin or join the retail team in one of its charity shops

* You can get involved in the NWAA Lottery with the chance to give – and maybe receive by winning a big cash prize

“We are there for everybody. Saving lives is the reason we all come to work every day – and we want to keep saving more.  It’s what makes everything worthwhile,” adds Rachel.

Find out more info on the North West Air Ambulance website.

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