National Accident Helpline has launched a fundraising challenge for its staff with the handover of a cheque for £2,500 at The Air Ambulance Service's Coventry Airport base station.
The UK's leading provider of personal injury advice, services and support, Kettering-based firm National Accident Helpline, has announced that it has named The Air Ambulance Service as its new corporate charity partner. The announcement was made following an employee vote which saw The Air Ambulance Service receive 71% of the vote from a shortlist of three charities.
The partnership between the two organisations was launched last Wednesday (2 April) with a visit by National Accident Helpline Managing Director Russell Atkinson to The Air Ambulance Service's airbase at Coventry Airport, at which Mr Atkinson presented a cheque for £2,500 towards the company's fundraising target of £10,000.
Mr. Atkinson and a group of National Accident Helpline staff travelled to Coventry to be shown around the airbase by The Air Ambulance Service's Head of Fundraising Tracy Grunwell and Fundraising Coordinator Stuart Wilkins. During their two-hour visit the National Accident Helpline team were able to talk to pilots and medical staff to gain a real insight into the vital missions The Air Ambulance Service carries out on a daily basis. When an emergency call came in they were able to see just how quickly the Air Ambulance teams can get airborne.
National Accident Helpline Managing Director Mr. Atkinson said:
All of us who visited the Air Ambulance airbase were profoundly moved both by the commitment of the teams running the service and the stories of some of the people they have helped. Given our shared values - both organisations exist to help people who would struggle without our input - this feels like a natural partnership.
Our teams at National Accident Helpline have always been keen fundraisers, but their passion for this cause is really striking, and we are all excited about raising money in support of the lifesaving efforts provided by the Air Ambulance team.
The Air Ambulance Service's Chief Executive Andy Williamson said:
We rely on our relationships with our supporters, our ambassadors, our volunteers, the general public and businesses such as National Accident Helpline to keep our helicopters flying and saving critical time for our patients. Our corporate relationships help to raise awareness about our lifesaving work, and generate vital funds to keep us flying wherever and whenever people need us.
The funds raised by National Accident Helpline staff, customers and suppliers are an invaluable support to the continuation of our lifesaving work.
The Air Ambulance Service is the umbrella organisation for The Children's Air Ambulance; a national transfer service for seriously ill children and babies, and two Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS): Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) and Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA).
Each rescue mission that the Charity's HEMS teams carry out costs around £1,700. The National Accident Helpline team will now be undertaking a series of fundraising challenges to raise a further £7,500 to reach their initial target of £10,000, which would allow the company to fund more than five rescue missions in total. The planned events include a quiz night, a Zumbathon and the 167-mile War of the Roses cycle challenge from Bridlington to Morecambe, which takes place in September. The charity partnership will be launched at National Accident Helpline's Kettering headquarters on 28 April.
More information about the partnership and base station visit, along with coverage of planned events, is available at our Air Ambulance page, where readers can follow the progress of National Accident Helpline's fundraising activities throughout the year and make a donation to The Air Ambulance Service.