North West Air Ambulance talk at St Andrew's Womens Group

For our March meeting we were pleased to welcome Roslyn, a volunteer with the North West Air Ambulance Charity, as our speaker.

The area they cover is from Cumbria to South Cheshire, the largest population of any of the Air Ambulance Services outside London.

We were surprised to hear that the charity receives no government or NHS funding but relies solely on donations from the public through various forms of fundraising. The North West Branch needs £18 million per year to function, which means a lot of fundraising!

They have three helicopters, one based at Blackpool and two at Barton Airfield in Manchester.

Each helicopter is manned by a trained pilot, an NHS doctor, and paramedics. All have to be paid for by the charity. They also carry fresh blood supplies daily, so life-saving transfusions can be carried out before the patient reaches the hospital. The unused blood supply is returned to the blood bank daily and not wasted. The blood carried is O rhesus negative, which can be given to any patient, whatever their blood group.

This evening's talk was one of the most inspirational and eye-opening we have had. This is a truly amazing charity and deserves all our support. Thank you, Roslyn and all the volunteers, for the work you do.

The meeting ended with our usual homemade refreshments, time for questions and to catch up with each other.