Fundraising events "vital" to keep air ambulances flying as they reveal £1 million monthly costs
The Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust is running its 90 Miles in November fundraising challenge
Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust say that fundraising events are "vital" to keep them flying.
They have told us of their £1 million a month operating costs, and say that they "genuinely celebrate" every pound they make.
Their 90 Miles in November fundraiser begins today, and they encourage anyone to get involved, and help raise money for them to continue to provide their life-saving support.
Matt Soden, Events Co-ordinator, told us more about what the air ambulance trust provides:
"We provide Essex and Hertfordshire and surrounding areas with helicopter emergency medical services.
"Which basically means we don't just take the patient to the hospital, we bring the hospital to the patient and we can provide hospital level care at the scene to give seriously ill people the best chance of a positive outcome.
"We do lots of other stuff as well. We do aftercare services to patients and family who are dealing with severe injuries, illness, bereavement, and we give them that care as long as they need it. And we run community events.
"Obviously helicopter emergency medical services are our main business and they are expensive things and so we have operating costs of £1,000,000 a month, £12 million a year, which we raise through the generosity of local businesses and local people.
"Without those people and that support, we just can't fly.
"90 miles in November is exactly what it sounds like really. We're challenging everybody to get up, get out, get active. You can walk, run, roll, cycle, swim, dance, whatever you like, to cover the 90 miles in November.
"if you're doing the whole 90 miles yourself, that's 3 miles a day. Not everyone can do 3 miles a day, so this year we're making it easier for everyone to get involved. We're encouraging people to kind of share the miles so you can walk with family, friends, colleagues, pets, even.
"And you can count their miles towards a collective 90 mile target. So if you already walk the dog a mile and 1/2 every day, then the two of you will walk collective 90 miles in November without even changing your daily routine.
"Every pound that we get in really is genuinely celebrated."
You can sign up to the event at any point in November.
The Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust is not funded by the government or NHS. Matt said that these fundraising events are "vital to keep us flying."
"We are a charity. A lot of people just assume that we're part of the NHS. But we're not.
"Without donations from people we just wouldn't exist."
To get involved, visit their website.