HELP Appeal Helipads Reach 35,000 Landings

HELP Appeal-funded NHS hospital helipads have surpassed 35,000 helicopter landings across Great Britain, highlighting the charity’s role in improving access to emergency and specialist care.

Since funding its first NHS hospital helipad project in 2009, the HELP Appeal has supported the expansion of emergency helicopter access across Great Britain through charitable donations for new hospital helipads and major infrastructure upgrades.

LONDON, United Kingdom — The HELP Appeal has announced that helicopter landings at NHS hospital helipads funded by the charity have surpassed 35,000 across Great Britain, marking a significant milestone in emergency medical aviation.

According to the charity, it has funded 55 hospital helipad projects, including 32 new helipads and 23 major upgrades designed to improve patient access and operational capability. The infrastructure supports the rapid transport of critically ill and seriously injured patients directly to major trauma centres and specialist hospitals.

Britain’s Busiest Hospital Helipads

During 2025, the busiest HELP Appeal-funded hospital helipads were Southampton General Hospital (322 landings), King’s College Hospital in London (319), Southmead Hospital in Bristol (318), Raigmore Hospital in Inverness (300), and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow (282).

The charity also highlighted several recently completed and ongoing projects, including new hospital helipads at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, Royal Preston Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn. Additional projects currently under development include the first HELP Appeal-funded helipads in Wales at Ysbyty Gwynedd and an emergency helipad on the Isle of Arran.

Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal, “Reaching 35,000 helicopter landings on HELP Appeal-funded helipads is an extraordinary milestone and demonstrates the lifesaving impact that this infrastructure delivers every single day. Over the past 15 years we have helped transform emergency access to major trauma and specialist hospitals throughout Great Britain, ensuring thousands of critically ill and seriously injured patients reach the care they need as quickly as possible.”

The announcement coincides with the publication of a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Air Ambulances, which calls for safeguarded 24-hour on-site helipad access at all major trauma centres and specialist hospitals across Britain.

About HELP Appeal: The HELP Appeal is the United Kingdom’s only charity dedicated exclusively to funding NHS hospital helipads. Since its establishment in 2009, the charity has funded hospital helipads, air ambulance bases and critical care vehicles to improve emergency access to specialist healthcare across Great Britain.