Wiltshire Air Ambulance hit by £500k fundraising hike

The yearly cost to provide Wiltshire Air Ambulance’s lifesaving service has risen to £4.5 million.

It represents an 11% increase from the previous annual fundraising target of £4 million and is due to a culmination of factors.

Charity chairman Rob Kevan explained: “We continue to build resilience within our aircrew rota, with more pre-hospital doctors now on board than ever before.

“In addition, we remain committed to advancing the training and development of our critical care paramedics and trainee critical care paramedics.

“However, in our endeavour to enhance our patient care, with investment in clinical upskilling we have to contend with rising costs, including fuel and utility bills, and those associated with our Devizes charity shop.

“Subsequently, our fundraising need has risen to £4.5 million each year, which put into greater context means generating over £12,000 every single day.”

He added: “This is a huge challenge for our very dedicated charity team but one I am confident they will rise to, as they have done many times in the past, especially seen during the Coronavirus pandemic and more recently as we go through this Cost-of-Living crisis.”

Last year alone the charity was called to 1,167 incidents across Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas, which represented an increase in clinical need of 10.6% on the previous 12-month period. 

Wiltshire Air Ambulance receives no regular direct Government funding or National Lottery grants, so relies on the generosity of the public and local businesses to continue its lifesaving work.

The charity operates up to 19 hours a day, 365 days a year. On average, its aircrew will respond to three lifesaving missions every day.