Great North Air Ambulance launches 20th anniversary cash appeal

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) has launched an appeal to mark its 20th anniversary.
The Great North Air Ambulance.The Great North Air Ambulance.
The Great North Air Ambulance.

The past year has been the charity’s busiest ever with 1,620 call-outs across the North East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria in 2021, up from 1,262 in 2020.

Now, GNAAS has launched its biggest ever appeal, asking the public to help it meet the rising costs of providing year-round emergency care in the face of the increased demand on its services through its Fund Our Future campaign.

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David Stockton, the charity’s chief executive, said: “At a time when our service is reaching more people than ever before, and making the most impact to our patients, we are under the most pressure due to rising costs.

“It will hardly be surprising to hear, but running helicopters isn’t cheap. It cost £6.7m last year alone.

He continued: “That’s why we are asking the public to Fund Our Future, local lives depend on it.”

In May, GNAAS will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Since its formation it has responded to 23,500 incidents.

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Mr Stockton also urged the public not to take the service for granted.

He said: “We have the team and we have the aircraft. Our needs are basic but vital – we need fuel to put in the tank, we need to keep the fleet maintained and ready to go, and we need to keep our kit bags stocked in preparation for whatever comes our way.

“These costs amount to millions of pounds, so we need all the help we can get.”

To donate, please visit gna.as/ourfuture.