About Midlands Air Ambulance
About This Shop
Midlands Air Ambulance is the charity responsible for funding and operating three air ambulances serving the communities of six Midlands counties: Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and the West Midlands.
This constitutes the largest air ambulance operating region in the UK. Since 1991, the charity has responded to more than 43,000 missions averaging 2,000 per year, making it one of the longest established and busiest air ambulance organisations in the UK.
The charity’s three aircraft each carry a crew comprising a pilot, two paramedics, or flight doctors plus full life-support medical equipment. Operating from strategically located regional airbases, 90 percent of the region is within reach within eight minutes. If a patient reaches the hospital within the Golden Hour (60 minutes after their injury) their chances of survival are dramatically increased. That is why the rapid response of the Midlands Air Ambulance is so vital in an emergency situation. What is not widely known is that Midlands Air Ambulance receives no Government or National Lottery funding.
Each Midlands Air Ambulance mission costs £2,500 and in excess of £7 million is needed each year to keep its three air ambulances operational, which is donated entirely by the public and local businesses, with four in ten of those we help funded by Gifts in Wills. The charity is fortunate to count on tremendous public support and goodwill but never takes this for granted. Winning and keeping hearts and minds is an essential and constant challenge. That is why it regards the real ‘helicopter heroes as not only the aircrew but those often unsung ground heroes, its fundraisers.
Midlands Air Ambulance Charity currently has charity shops, located across our home area with plans to open further stores in the future. The profits from the shops go directly towards supporting the life-saving work of the charity.
Items you can donate include:
Clothing – Accessories
Furniture – Bric-a-brac
Books – CDs
DVDs – Selected electrical goods
Musical instruments – Mobile phones
Bed linen and curtains
If you have good quality unwanted items you would like to donate, please contact our charity team on 0800 8 40 20 40. If you have large items, we can come and collect them for free at a time convenient to you.
We are blessed with a number of dedicated charity shop volunteers, if you are interested in joining our retail team, get in touch with our volunteer coordinator, Alison Hill, on 0800 8 40 20 40.