HELP Appeal, January 06, 2023 - The emergency helicopter landing pad at the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway has seen over 240 landings since its upgrade in 2016, which was made possible after a £40,000 donation from the HELP Appeal.
Before the upgrade, stretcher wheels carrying patients were incompatible with the landing area’s grass surface, causing vital time to be lost during emergency transfers. However, the HELP Appeal’s funding replaced the grass surface with reinforced concrete paving and provided a lighting upgrade too, ensuring the patient could be transferred as quickly and comfortably as possible to and from the hospital.
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal says: “Stornoway was one of the very first helipad projects that we funded in Scotland and since then demand for emergency landing pads has grown dramatically across the country. When time is of the essence, no critically ill patient should ever experience delays when being transferred, and our funding of the helipad at the Western Isles Hospital ensured this would never be the case in the region again.”
In Scotland alone, the HELP Appeal has funded or is funding new or upgraded helipads at/ in:
- Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow (2015)
- Western Isles Hospital, Stornoway (2015)
- Raigmore Hospital, Inverness (2019)
- Royal Infirmary Edinburgh (2021)
- Campbeltown Hospital (2021)
- Applecross (2021)
- Orkney
- Kilmarnock
- Isle of Skye
- Isle of Arran
- Isle of Barra
- Isle of Mull
- Isle of Islay
- Fort William
Donations from the HELP Appeal to Scottish helipads amount to over £2,265,000.
The charity has also donated £200,000 towards portable landings lights for Scotland’s Air Ambulance Service for 20 island locations across Scotland.
Before the upgrade, stretcher wheels carrying patients were incompatible with the landing area’s grass surface, causing vital time to be lost during emergency transfers. However, the HELP Appeal’s funding replaced the grass surface with reinforced concrete paving and provided a lighting upgrade too, ensuring the patient could be transferred as quickly and comfortably as possible to and from the hospital.
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal says: “Stornoway was one of the very first helipad projects that we funded in Scotland and since then demand for emergency landing pads has grown dramatically across the country. When time is of the essence, no critically ill patient should ever experience delays when being transferred, and our funding of the helipad at the Western Isles Hospital ensured this would never be the case in the region again.”
In Scotland alone, the HELP Appeal has funded or is funding new or upgraded helipads at/ in:
- Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow (2015)
- Western Isles Hospital, Stornoway (2015)
- Raigmore Hospital, Inverness (2019)
- Royal Infirmary Edinburgh (2021)
- Campbeltown Hospital (2021)
- Applecross (2021)
- Orkney
- Kilmarnock
- Isle of Skye
- Isle of Arran
- Isle of Barra
- Isle of Mull
- Isle of Islay
- Fort William
Donations from the HELP Appeal to Scottish helipads amount to over £2,265,000.
The charity has also donated £200,000 towards portable landings lights for Scotland’s Air Ambulance Service for 20 island locations across Scotland.
Western Isles Hospital See also |
HELP Appeal 
