HELP Appeal, April 16, 2020 - The HELP Appeal has announced that since its creation in 2009, 32 new or upgraded hospital helipads funded by the charity, have seen over 15,000 landings across the country. Over a quarter of these landings (3559) have happened in the past 12 months alone.
The HELP Appeal was established to improve helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) by funding the construction or upgrade of hospital and air ambulance helipads. Since 2009 the charity has:
- Funded 38 brand new, or the upgrade of existing, helipads across the country (32 hospital helipads and 6 AA helipads).Of these helipads, 17 are based at Major Trauma Centres.
- Funded a new helipad at Exeter which opened in March 2020; funding helipads at Brighton, Hull, Manchester, Keighley and Campbeltown Hospitals, which will open in 2020 and Sheffield Children’s Hospital which is opening in 2021.
- Funded a helipad upgrade at Hereford which opened in April 2020 and is currently funding improvements to existing helipads at Coventry, Kilmarnock and Peterborough hospitals, which will open this year.
- Expanded into Scotland to fund nine hospital helipads including at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and Raigmore Hospital, Inverness with another three in the pipeline.
- Provided £200,000 over a four-year period to the Scottish Air Ambulance Service to fund replacement secondary landing sites throughout Scotland.
- Pioneered the introduction and funding of Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (DIFFS) on five rooftop helipads across the country including King’s College hospital and St George’s hospital, with three more planned, which save each NHS hospital around £250,000 every year in firefighting costs.
- Funded helipads at brand new air bases for several air ambulances, including the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance; Midlands Air Ambulance Charity; Wiltshire Air Ambulance; Great Western Air Ambulance; Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and London Air Ambulance; and is funding helipads for Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance in 2020 and Great North Air Ambulance.
- Funded lifesaving equipment for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) and funding two Critical Care Cars in partnership with MAAC with a third car launching in 2020.
- Provided life-saving funding for the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) annually since 2019.
- Donated over £20 Million towards 38 completed helipad projects across the country. The cost of planned helipad projects equates to £50.75m.
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal says: “Over 10 years ago, hospital helipad facilities were severely lacking, yet finance for hospitals was tight. There was little doubt that if we didn’t offer non-repayable funds towards the cost of helipads, hospitals would struggle to ever have one, despite emergency medics saying they were desperately needed to save time and save lives.
“Today, finance for hospitals remains tight, but the demand for our helipad grants continues to grow and we are recognised as the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads.”
The HELP Appeal was established to improve helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) by funding the construction or upgrade of hospital and air ambulance helipads. Since 2009 the charity has:
- Funded 38 brand new, or the upgrade of existing, helipads across the country (32 hospital helipads and 6 AA helipads).Of these helipads, 17 are based at Major Trauma Centres.
- Funded a new helipad at Exeter which opened in March 2020; funding helipads at Brighton, Hull, Manchester, Keighley and Campbeltown Hospitals, which will open in 2020 and Sheffield Children’s Hospital which is opening in 2021.
- Funded a helipad upgrade at Hereford which opened in April 2020 and is currently funding improvements to existing helipads at Coventry, Kilmarnock and Peterborough hospitals, which will open this year.
- Expanded into Scotland to fund nine hospital helipads including at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and Raigmore Hospital, Inverness with another three in the pipeline.
- Provided £200,000 over a four-year period to the Scottish Air Ambulance Service to fund replacement secondary landing sites throughout Scotland.
- Pioneered the introduction and funding of Deck Integrated Fire Fighting System (DIFFS) on five rooftop helipads across the country including King’s College hospital and St George’s hospital, with three more planned, which save each NHS hospital around £250,000 every year in firefighting costs.
- Funded helipads at brand new air bases for several air ambulances, including the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance; Midlands Air Ambulance Charity; Wiltshire Air Ambulance; Great Western Air Ambulance; Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and London Air Ambulance; and is funding helipads for Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance in 2020 and Great North Air Ambulance.
- Funded lifesaving equipment for the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity (MAAC) and funding two Critical Care Cars in partnership with MAAC with a third car launching in 2020.
- Provided life-saving funding for the British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) annually since 2019.
- Donated over £20 Million towards 38 completed helipad projects across the country. The cost of planned helipad projects equates to £50.75m.
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal says: “Over 10 years ago, hospital helipad facilities were severely lacking, yet finance for hospitals was tight. There was little doubt that if we didn’t offer non-repayable funds towards the cost of helipads, hospitals would struggle to ever have one, despite emergency medics saying they were desperately needed to save time and save lives.
“Today, finance for hospitals remains tight, but the demand for our helipad grants continues to grow and we are recognised as the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads.”
See also |
HELP Appeal 
Air Medical Ambulance Services UK Air Ambulances 
