Save lives with the gift of a lifetime your local air ambulance Derbyshire Leicestershire Rutland Warwickshire Northamptonshire children s air ambulance keeping hope alive
I was devastated when we learned that Mum and Dad had BOTH been airlifted to hospital after their car collided with an HGV. But now they re back home - smiling, sharing family jokes and Mum telling Dad what to do, like normal! I can t really find the words to tell you how grateful we are that the air ambulance team was there for us. Things could have been quite different without their help. Elaine, Jess and Keith s daughter 2
Contents A word from Andy 5 Giving the gift of a lifetime 6 A gift from one heart to save another 9 Everyday miracles 10 Support a cause close to your heart Children s Air Ambulance 12 Your local air ambulance services 13 Taking care of your wishes 15 A step by step guide 16 3
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Dear friend When I joined the charity eleven years ago, the organisation looked really different to how it does now. We now provide two local air ambulance services covering five counties, we have rapid response vehicles, meaning we can attend incidents day and night, and we run the nation s first dedicated Children s Air Ambulance service flying critically ill children to the specialist care they need. I am proud of how far we ve come and of the thousands of lives we ve saved and changed. I have met some amazing people along the way. Like father and husband Guy, who after a severe traffic collision was told he would never walk again, yet who this year ran the London Marathon for us. And like little Theo, our first baby transfer patient who was born fighting for his life, yet who this year celebrated his second birthday. We do not receive any government funding, and so I know we have only been able to reach these people thanks to the support of people like you. But I also know there is still work to be done. My vision is a future where we do not see families needlessly torn apart by trauma. A future where communities can rely on receiving the fastest and best medical care. And a future where every critically ill child, whose life can be saved by an air transfer, can get one. Today, the Children s Air Ambulance can only reach one in every three children who need it we have just a single helicopter to stretch across the whole country and need to expand our service. And, although we run two local helicopter emergency services that are second to none, we know there is more that we can do in supporting the NHS to save lives in the community. You may not be surprised to hear that I have left a gift in my Will to the charity. Today I hope you will consider doing so too. Of course, and quite rightly, in such things family comes first. But any amount you can leave, even just a small share of your estate, will be used carefully and for the greatest life saving impact. Gifts of any size really will save lives. On behalf of the children and families we fly to safety every day, thank you for considering leaving a gift in your Will to The Air Ambulance Service. Andy Williamson Chief Executive 5
Giving the gift of a lifetime We all understand the importance of The Air Ambulance Service, but it is often not until we, or our loved ones, need it that we truly feel its value. We hope you ll never need The Air Ambulance Service, but if you do, we will be there for you. We want to always be there. It s a sad fact that accidents happen, people will be struck suddenly by acute and unexpected medical conditions, and children will suffer terrible critical illness. While we work with our communities and NHS partners on prevention. We know we will never eradicate these things. But we can, and we will, work tirelessly until every family, and every child, without exception gets the care they need and fast. There is no doubt that by leaving a gift in your Will to The Air Ambulance Service, you will help save lives. Your gift will help us be there for normal families in their greatest hour of need. It will give people futures they might otherwise have had snatched from them and it will mean that children, who once fought to survive, get to grow up. What a legacy... My experience made me realise that it could all be over in a second and I feel thankful for every moment I have. I m so grateful to the air ambulance guys. Without them, I don t know if I d still be here. Ben 6
I know that 70 miles might not sound that far, but when it s your baby who s spent the majority of his life in hospital it feels like a million miles away. I can t imagine what might have happened if the helicopter hadn t been there to fly him. Helen, Alex s mum 7
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A gift from one heart to save another In January 2014, Mrs Elsie Scott of the Isle of Wight, passed away leaving a gift in her Will to benefit the air ambulances supporting the island that was her home. Less than four months later her donation was pressed into action as we flew little Jack from the Isle of Wight to Southampton. It was a journey that saved his life. When Jack was born his mum and dad were overjoyed, but at just four weeks old, Jack was admitted to hospital struggling to breathe. And then things got a lot worse. Mark and Abi were told Jack needed urgent open-heart surgery. Then they were told it could not be done on the Isle of Wight. The specialist team and surgeon Jack needed were across the water at Southampton General Hospital but a journey by road and ferry was far too long, unstable and risky for tiny Jack in this critical condition. That s when the Children s Air Ambulance was called in. Our helicopter flew the specialists to the Isle of Wight to prepare Jack for the flight - ventilating, sedating and placing him carefully into a baby pod (a part of the specially designed stretcher to make a helicopter journey like this as safe as possible). Thankfully, Jack s surgery went well and he responded so well to treatment, the family were allowed to take him home just 10 days later. There wasn t enough space in the helicopter for us. All we wanted was to be at Jack s side, but we knew that the helicopter transfer gave him the best chance of survival. I can t really find the words to tell you how grateful we are that the Children s Air Ambulance was there for us. Everything could have been very different without their help. Abi, Jack s mum This year, Jack celebrated his first birthday. With your support, we will see more little patients like Jack grow up. The flight took just eight minutes. By the time Mike and Abi arrived at hospital hours later, Jack was prepped for surgery but worse was to come. His heart stopped. If he had been on the road or in the ferry when this happened, the consequences could have been disastrous. For little Jack, every second really did count. 9
Everyday miracles Just a year after Guy s accident, he ran the London Marathon in honour of the people who rescued and cared for him. He completed the run in just 5 hrs 6 minutes. My life changed on a rainy January day. I was driving home from work and was close to home when I aquaplaned, my car rolled, and I hit a tree. I later found out that a friend had heard the crash and called 999. The weather was so dreadful the air ambulance crew could not fly the helicopter. So instead they came in a rapid response vehicle to me. They got to me in just seven minutes, and then began the process of saving my life. The police and fire services cut me out of my car and handed me over to the air ambulance crew - two trauma doctors and a paramedic. I d fractured my right femur and broken my pelvis, sacrum, shoulder, ribs and foot. I had also punctured my lungs and bladder. I d lost six pints of blood and had three bleeds to the brain. My blood pressure was so low that the doctors could not register it they knew I needed help to survive fast. But I lived - thanks to the teamwork of The Air Ambulance Service alongside the police and the NHS. not been able to use their expertise, I would not here. My wife would not have a husband, my children would not have a father and my mother would not have a son. With my injuries I should not have survived 24 hours and would not be expected to walk again. But now I am back out running. I owe more than I will ever be able to give to the air ambulance. It s stories like this that inspire people like Mel to leave a legacy to their local air ambulance I believe a Will is the only way your family and friends can really know your wishes. I ve also asked for donations in lieu of flowers to go to The Air Ambulance Service. I m happy to think that one of my final acts in life will be to help save someone else s life. Mel Smith, legacy pledger I remember nothing about my accident. My earliest recollection was two weeks later. Then I learned that the air ambulance crew were first on scene. It was raining and the light was poor. I thought what if they can t get to me. But they did not give up on me. If it wasn t for their split second decision, if they did not care about the job they do, if they had 10
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Support a cause close to your heart If you choose to leave a gift to The Air Ambulance Service, we will use it where the need is greatest. However, you may wish to leave a gift to a specific area of our work that is close to your heart. Children s Air Ambulance Your gift would bring a flying intensive care unit to children fighting for their lives. The Children s Air Ambulance flies critically ill children nationwide, from one hospital to another for specialist care. We are the first and only dedicated paediatric helicopter emergency transfer service of this kind. The bespoke, specialist equipment on board our helicopter provides a flying intensive care unit for children. When a child is too sick to fly, we fly a specialist team to them. With flight times commonly over four times quicker than transfer by road, in many cases, time saved is a life saved. Two children every day could benefit from our service. Right now we can only reach one of every three children that need us. Currently, we cannot carry parents when we fly children as there is not enough space in our helicopter your gift could help ensure that we can always have the best equipment for the job. We also have only one helicopter based in the Midlands to cover the whole of the country in the future your gift could help additional helicopters as required, which would mean quicker transfer times. It took over two years and tens of thousands of pounds developing the specialist stretcher needed to transfer small babies in a helicopter The Children s Air Ambulance currently costs 134k a month to run On average it costs 2,800 to fund a transfer When a child needs critical care speed is vital. Children s Air Ambulance works with specialist NHS emergency transport teams to transfer our most vulnerable patients quickly and safely. Helping to provide the world-class level of service I believe our patients deserve. Steve Hancock, Clinician at Embrace (NHS specialist pediatric retrieval team) 12
Your local air ambulance services Your gift would keep your air ambulance flying and saving lives in our community for generations to come. Our two helicopters serve a total of five counties; Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland. Both provide rapid response to trauma and medical emergencies over an area of 3,850 square miles, including the M1, M6, M69 and M42 and a population of over 3.2 million. Our missions are 44% road traffic collisions, 18% medical emergencies, 17% sporting injuries, 11% falls, 3% industrial incidents and 7% other With an average response of just 13 minutes, between them our services attend, on average, six missions a day It costs 1,700 for us to fly each and every mission Our services carry trauma doctors on board as well as highly skilled critical care paramedics. This makes our air ambulances far more than a transport service. The advanced skill of our crew means they can undertake on-the-spot surgery and administer advanced drugs to stabilise patients in a critical condition. This pre-hospital intervention lays vital groundwork for hospital staff and works to increase the speed and extent of our patient s recovery. It can make the difference between life and death. In the future, we must extend our services to provide the local community with the best emergency medical care available. Your gift could help us save more lives by providing more vehicles so we can reach people day and night, by enabling us to carry blood on board to help stabilise patients on scene, by providing first aid training in schools and workplaces and by keeping the helicopter flying, Should you choose to leave a gift to the Children s Air Ambulance, the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, or the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance, we will ensure that particular service benefits from your goodwill. 13
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Taking care of your wishes We understand that family comes first. That s the way it should be. Our services focus on keeping families together through the toughest of times. We will handle your gift with care and respect. Whatever your wishes, we will always be professional and sensitive. We know that it s your decision and we do not want you to feel pressured in any way. We believe that you should feel nothing but joy in giving such a precious gift. We respect your privacy. It really helps a small organisation like ours to plan for the future if we know you intend to leave us a gift in your Will. If you let us know, we will keep your wishes confidential. We would like to give you the opportunity to learn more about the service you are supporting. Should you let us know your intentions we d like to thank you and make sure you have no unanswered questions. And of course, we understand that circumstances change and you may change your mind. Letting us know your intentions is in no way binding. 15
A step by step guide A professionally written Will, and keeping it up to date, is the only way to make sure that your wishes will be carried out after you ve gone. Step 1 Talk to a solicitor If you don t already have a Will it is recommended that you get professional advice from a solicitor to ensure your Will is legal, and exactly how you want it. Of course, if you already have a Will it s important to keep it up to date. This includes when you purchase property, get married, have children or receive a large sum of money such as an inheritance. If you need to make major changes in your Will, you should speak to a solicitor who can amend it for you. Step 2 Decide who will benefit Before you meet with a solicitor consider what you wish to leave to your family, friends and the charities you support. Make a list of what you own and what you owe. This wil help you work out the true size of your estate, and what you could leave to friends, family and causes close to your heart. Step 3 Decide how you want to leave your gifts You can leave three different kinds of gift a share of your estate (residuary gift). a specific sum of money (pecuniary gift). an item like jewellery, furniture, land or shares (specific gift). Just a small percentage of your estate would make a huge difference to the families who desperately need our help. Should you simply wish to include a gift to our charity you can use the enclosed codicil form. Make a Will Week Every year during Make a Will Week, participating solicitors have agreed to waive their fee for basic Will writing, or for amending an existing Will. In return for this service, they request that you make a donation to The Air Ambulance Service which reflects their time and expertise. Solicitors charge, on average, between 100 and 175 to draft a Will, so your donation will really help us to keep flying and saving lives. Please contact Chloe Bass on 01926 633865. 16
House clearance We run over 30 boutique shops across the country to raise funds for the charity. This allows us to offer a house clearance service should this be appropriate in your situation. We will arrange for a property to be cleared free of charge, ready for sale. All items from the house including furniture, clothing, ornaments and other items can then be sold through our shops to raise life saving funds. Gifts in lieu of flowers Many people choose to suggest donations in lieu of flowers at the funeral as a special way to remember people. This does not mean that there will not be any flowers at a funeral but does allow your guests the choice of supporting a cause you believe in. Gifts in tribute It can be a lovely gesture to celebrate the life of someone with an in-memoriam gift to a good cause. Should you leave a gift in tribute we will add their name to our book of remembrance on display at our headquarters Hazell House in Warwickshire. 17
When they told me that Theo needed emergency surgery my world stopped. I can t explain the feeling of knowing your child is desperately ill and the treatment is miles away. I can t say thank you enough for flying him to safety. Denisa, Theo s mum
The Air Ambulance Service Hazell House Burnthurst Lane Princethorpe Warwickshire CV23 9QA 08454 130999 enquiries@theairambulanceservice.org.uk your local air ambulance Derbyshire Leicestershire Rutland Warwickshire Northamptonshire children s air ambulance keeping hope alive Part of The Air Ambulance Service. Registered Company No. 4845905. Registered Charity No. 1098874.