The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity will redevelop one of its airbases after receiving a near £2 million grant.

A contribution of £1.8 million from HELP Appeal will be used to fund the revamp of MAAC's Strensham base on the Worcestershire/Gloucestershire border.

To date, MAAC has responded to more than 75,000 missions across six counties, and is the busiest air ambulance service in England.

 

 

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The project includes replacing the existing hangar, which is over 20 years old.

The grant marks HELP Appeal’s third substantial contribution towards the airbase.

HELP Appeal is an operation run by the County Air Ambulance Trust (CAAT), the only charity nationwide dedicated to funding helipads at hospitals and air ambulance airbases.

Alongside a new hangar, improvements to the facilities supporting clinicians and the fleet of critical care cars will be made.

The airbase will remain operational throughout the refurbishment, with the helicopter temporarily moving to Babcock’s operating base in nearby Staverton, Gloucestershire, to ensure the the air ambulance remains fully operational.

Julian Spiers, MAAC's clinical operations manager for Strensham, said: "As you can imagine, during any refurbishment work there will be a lot of disruption.

"The temporary move to Staverton ensures our helicopter and critical care teams will continue to be available for lifesaving missions in the region whenever required."

Chief executive of MAAC, Hanna Sebright, said: "We are sincerely grateful to the HELP Appeal for its continued support and for funding the necessary remedial work at Strensham Airbase.

"Strensham is our primary southern operating airbase, within 10 minutes flight time of critically ill or injured patients in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and surrounding areas."

Robert Bertram, chief executive for the HELP Appeal, said: "We are delighted to support Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s airbase at Strensham.

"The importance of airbases can be often forgotten about in emergency care, but if air ambulances can’t land and take off safely or quickly from their airbase, patients’ lives could be put at serious risk.

"This is why we have donated £1,800,000 in total to ensure MAAC’s airbase helipads – from Shifnal to Strensham – are fit for purpose."