AUTUMN/WINTER 2019
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YOUR LOCAL LIFE-SAVING CHARITY:
NOW OPERATIONAL
24/7
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GET IN TOUCH We love hearing your fundraising news and receiving your feedback. EMAIL US: contactus@ehaat.org CALL US: 0345 2417 690 WRITE TO US: Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Flight House,
The Business Centre, Earls Colne, Colchester, Essex, CO6 2NS
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FLIGHT FOR LIFE MAGAZINE | AUTUMN/WINTER 2019
CONNECT WITH US: @ehaat_ / EssexandHerts AirAmbulance ehaat_
WHAT’S INSIDE THIS ISSUE? 04 News
WELCOME
08 Features 10 Lottery 11 Fundraising
TO THE FLIGHT FOR LIFE MAGAZINE
16 Events 18 Volunteering 20 Retail 22 Clinical / Operations
JANE GURNEY
24 Feature
Chief Executive Officer ESSEX & HERTS AIR AMBULANCE
The last few months have been another exciting period for Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT). Since Monday 7th October we have been delivering our clinical service 24/7, 365 days a year using our Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) in conjunction with our helicopters. This major development means we can now deliver the same high quality clinical care to patients across Essex and Hertfordshire regardless of the time of day or night. It is a major step forward for us and one that everyone involved in the charity, including staff, crew, volunteers and supporters, should feel very proud of. You have all helped to make this happen. Thank you. The RRVs deliver exactly the same expert care and equipment to a scene as our helicopters. They are used at night time and when the helicopters are unable to fly because of bad weather or unplanned maintenance. Another major clinical milestone is that since March we have been carrying blood on board. Being able to give a blood transfusion at the scene of an incident is a potentially life-saving intervention for those patients who have suffered significant blood loss. Thank you to the Essex Voluntary Blood Service, whose volunteer drivers and bikers deliver blood from The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow to both our bases each day. Without these dedicated volunteers this would just not be possible.
I’m delighted to say that our application for £1.5 million of the £10 million put aside for the Government to fund capital projects for air ambulances in England has been successful. This will play a crucial part in funding our new airbase at North Weald, which will future-proof our operations.
CONTACTS
We have celebrated two notable anniversaries in recent months. In June we welcomed prehospital care colleagues from across the world to the 10th anniversary of our Aeromedical Conference to share good practice and learning. Thanks to the continued support of our sponsors, we are still able to offer this important annual event for free to a variety of people involved in pre-hospital care.
contactus@ehaat.org
September saw over 4,000 bikers take to the roads of Essex for our 20th anniversary Motorcycle Run and Family Fun Day. Thanks to everyone who has supported this event over the years and helped it grow into one of our key fundraising events each year.
ESSEX GENERAL ENQUIRIES:
0345 2417 690
HERTS GENERAL ENQUIRIES:
0345 5040 055 EMAIL: WEBSITE:
ehaat.org LOTTERY HOTLINE:
0345 2417 688
– PUBLISHED BY:
Focus IMC www.focusimc.co.uk EDITOR:
Kayleigh Bonner kayleigh.bonner@ehaat.org CHARITY NUMBER:
1108989
I really hope you enjoy reading our latest issue of Flight for Life. Without your ongoing support, our critical care teams could not continue their amazing lifesaving work. Thank you.
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NEWS
YOUR LOCAL LIFE-SAVING CHARITY: NOW OPERATIONAL 24/7 Monday 7th October was a major landmark day in the history of EHAAT as our critical care teams became operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the first time in the Charity’s 21-year history.
In the first week of round the clock working, the teams attended 45 incidents. These included serious road traffic collisions, medical emergencies and traumatic falls. Of the 45 patients, we would not have been able to attend 9 in our previous operational hours.
Using EHAAT’s helicopters during daylight hours and Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) in the hours of darkness, they are now available to care for critically ill and injured patients regardless of the time of day.
EHAAT Clinical Director Stuart Elms said: “We are very excited to have started 24/7 operations from our North Weald airbase after a lot of hard work from everyone in the Charity and our partner organisation, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.
The decision to use RRVs during the night instead of helicopters was made for several reasons: flying at night is expensive and challenging and would require additional equipment and training. There is also currently a lack of lit helipads in this region. We will be analysing the missions we are tasked to so that we can evaluate the need for us to fly at night. If there is a need for us to attend patients at night who we cannot reach by RRV during the night then we will look at night flying.
“There was an intensive recruitment phase to recruit the necessary number of Pre-hospital Care Doctors and Critical Care Paramedics to give us the numbers and the resilience to safely work 24/7.
To ensure we provide first-class pre-hospital care, the RRVs carry the same life-saving equipment as the helicopters, and are crewed by a pre-hospital care doctor and a critical care paramedic. Alongside our two helicopters, our fleet currently consists of four Volvo XC90s, two at each airbase. Having a second vehicle at each base allows the team to remain operational even when a vehicle has to be taken out of service.
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“We are thankful to our researcher, Sarah McLachlan, for her research which gave evidence that there was a requirement for us to be 24/7. Patients will continue to need the service outside the hours that we previously worked, so we will still be tasked to exactly the same kinds of calls that we would do during the day. We will have exactly the same equipment and exactly the same highly skilled team bringing the hospital to the patient. “Patient care and the safety of the team when responding in the hours of darkness are very important. Working on scene can be more technical at night, particularly when there is a need for more lighting. We are also monitoring fatigue and our excellent governance processes are keeping an eye on all the missions to ensure that no matter the hour, we work at the same standard of excellence.”
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£3.6 MILLION AWARDED TO AIR AMBULANCES IN THE EAST OF ENGLAND In the last issue of Flight for Life, we were excited to announce the Chancellor of the Exchequer had set aside £10 million of the 2018 Budget for UK Air Ambulances.
This means some of the funds initially put aside for our new premises can now be used in other ways to help develop and improve the life-saving service we provide.
We are incredibly pleased that alongside our neighbouring Air Ambulances, Magpas and East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA), EHAAT has been selected to receive part of this funding which will help pay towards our proposed new airbase at North Weald.
Together, the three air ambulances in the East of England will receive more than a third of the funding set aside by the Chancellor: EHAAT with £1.5 million, Magpas with £1.34 million and EAAA with £800,000.
AIR AMBULANCE CHARITIES ‘SHARE FOR SUCCESS’ In June, the fundraising teams from EHAAT, East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) and Magpas Air Ambulance all came together for a day of sharing ideas and learning. The ‘Sharing for Success’ event, kindly hosted free of charge by Tesco HQ in Welwyn Garden City, allowed the three charities to talk frankly about the challenges they have faced and the successes they have achieved. There were also presentations from notable external speakers. Tori Ablard, Head of Hospice Fundraising for Sue Ryder and St Johns Hospice spoke about community fundraising. Amy Petterson, Head of Community Fundraising at The Royal Air Forces Association discussed ‘the role of personal branding in fundraising’. Amy Oberholzer, Head of Individual Giving at Prostate Cancer UK shared one of their successful regular giving programmes. Pam Withrington, Fundraising & Marketing Director at EHAAT, explained: “We were keen for our teams to benefit from the same level of sharing and communication that we have developed at director level. Everyone was encouraged to be transparent about the difficulties they have faced as well as the successes they have achieved. The response to the day was so positive that we are already making plans for next year.” lanc Air Ambu
es of the
East of En
gland
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EHAAT PAY TRIBUTE TO DONATIONS MADE IN WILLS In 2018, 67 people left a gift to EHAAT in their will, totalling an air-mazing £941,242.89. This wonderful image shows 67 crew, volunteer and charity staff members gathering at the Earls Colne Airbase representing those supporters who left a legacy last year and whose contributions will play a huge part in keeping the charity operational and saving lives. One of our life-saving missions costs on average £2,200. Of the 67 people, 37 left more than enough to pay for one of these missions. We would like to thank Anglian Flight Centres, who generously put a temporary halt to flights in and out of Earls Colne Airfield so that a drone could be lifted to photograph the helicopter from the air. There were just a few minutes to get everyone safely onto the helipad, arrange them into a circle and capture the scene before flights resumed. The photograph was taken at the end of the day, as crew came off shift, meaning there was no interruption to their life-saving work. On average, one in ten of our missions are funded by a gift in a supporter’s will. We are incredibly grateful for the amazing contribution our legacy givers make.
In February and March next year we will be holding ‘legacy and will’ information events to discuss the part played by wills in funding the Charity. It will also be a chance for supporters to learn about the will-making process and to meet with a representative solicitor who will discuss the advantages of making a will and answer any questions. Events will be held in Colchester and Ware. Register your interest at ehaat.org/legacyevent to be alerted when details are released. Following on from the information events, selected solicitors in Essex and Hertfordshire will be waiving their usual charge for writing a will during March and request a donation to EHAAT in its place. The suggested donation is £100 for a Single Simple Will and £150 for a pair of Simple Mirror Wills. If you wish to take advantage of the offer, you can register your interest at ehaat.org/freewills
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FEATURES * Service helicopter in use temporarily replacing EHAAT’s AW169
“THEY SAVED MY HUSBAND’S LIFE” Steve Quinn from Harlow was on a stepladder in his back garden when one of the legs of the ladder crumpled. As the ladder collapsed, he fell to the ground, landing on his back.
The team at RLH realised that Steve’s injuries were worse than first thought. The front of his brain was swollen, and he needed surgery to remove a section of skull to take away the pressure.
Steve explains: “My son Seb, then just over two years old, panicked when he saw the blood and ran to get my wife Sharon. She was inside trying to get Nate, who was nine months old, off to sleep so she didn’t understand what had happened at first.”
Steve spent eight months in RLH and Homerton Hospital before he was finally allowed home. Sharon says everyone involved has been amazed at Steve’s recovery.
“He went back to working from home, initially two days a week, but now he is up to five days. He is driving, and he has even been on a plane after he was cleared to fly.”
Sharon came outside to see Steve disorientated and struggling to walk around. She says: “I had to get our oldest son to drag the ladder to one side because Steve was falling over it. I was trying to restrain him while I was on the phone to the ambulance service because he was really distracted and confused.” Land ambulance paramedics arrived, along with a police patrol car, followed soon after by a helicopter from EHAAT with PreHospital Care Doctor, Matt O’Meara and Critical Care Paramedic, Colin Treece on board. Sharon says: “The air ambulance landed in a field nearby. The doctor and paramedic came in and assessed him. They sedated and then anaesthetised him and took him in the land ambulance to the helicopter. He was then flown directly to The Royal London Hospital (RLH).”
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Earlier this year Steve and Sharon visited EHAAT’s North Weald Airbase where they were reunited with Dr Matt O’Meara. Sharon said: “It was really good to meet everyone, and the boys loved seeing the helicopter and cars. My mum has always been a supporter of EHAAT, and I am now. I don’t think Steve would have been saved without the quick intervention of the air ambulance crew and getting him to hospital so fast. They saved my husband’s life.”
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“I DIDN’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT EHAAT UNTIL I NEEDED IT” Dawn McKenna, who works at a riding school in Radwinter, Hertfordshire, was leading some horses along with her colleagues when she was kicked by a horses in front of her. She recalls: “The lady in front of me had to stop unexpectedly and her horse kicked out. I was hit on the side but I managed to keep hold of both the horses when I fell to the floor.” Dawn didn’t know it at the time, but she had suffered severe internal injuries and was bleeding badly. The crew of the land ambulance called for the air ambulance because of the severity of Dawn’s injuries. “It turned out that I had two broken ribs and a lacerated liver. I was taken by road to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where I needed a blood transfusion. I was awake the whole time. The EHAAT critical care team were really amazing, they kept me calm the whole way.” Following her departure from hospital, Dawn visited our North Weald Airbase with her husband Scott. She met critical care paramedic Chris Keeliher, who had attended her, and Patient Liaison Manager Tony Stone. “It was a really emotional moment when I met Chris, quite overwhelming. Tony gave us a really interesting talk about the work of the air ambulance and explained how it works. “I knew EHAAT existed, but I didn’t know much about it until I needed it. l can’t thank you guys enough for what you did, and I have now registered as a volunteer because I want to do something to help. It’s an incredible
“I lay still for a while, but I didn’t realise how badly I had been hurt. Someone gave me a lift back to the yard and rang for an ambulance.“
service. I’ve now made a full recovery and am back working with the horses, but my husband has insisted I now wear a body protector!”
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LOTTERY Finance Director Jonathan Ager congratulates Phil
CANVASSERS OF THE YEAR We contract with two professional canvassing organisations, Tower and RFD Promotions, who are incredibly important in continuing to expand our Flight for Life Lottery.
urney ane G CEO J s te la atu congr l e a h ic M Gary
On 4th September we hosted the first of our two lottery canvasser updates with the team from Tower. This was followed on 18th September by one for the canvassers from RFD.
and J
ordan
Each year we like to award one canvasser from each of our agencies to recognise the effort they put in to make the Flight for Life Lottery the success it is. There are a number of criteria taken into account when working out the award winner including number of new members signed up, number of cancellations and feedback from members of the public. Michael Budd was named our Tower Canvasser of the Year and Phil Parmenter was made RFD Canvasser of the Year. This was the third year running that both have won the award! Well done to Michael and Phil, who have both worked for the Charity for a number of years and have a very positive outlook, achieving great results whilst promoting EHAAT. At the two events the teams learned about our plans to acquire a second lottery licence to deal with the current £10 million pound cap on annual sales which applies to society lotteries like our Flight for Life Lottery. Following a government consultation, the rules are due to change, but not until 2020. As the lottery is forecast to meet the current limit by the end of 2019, we had to take action to make sure it could continue to grow. Since June, canvassers have also been talking to the public about our regular giving programme as well as the lottery, and they were brought up to date with the fantastic progress that has been made already. In the first two months alone, more than a hundred regular givers were signed up, more than double the forecasted numbers. Of these sign-ups, over 50% have signed up to gift aid, which boosts their donation amount by 25% without them having to pay a penny extra.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Father and son Gary and Jordan Woolhead have kept it in the family when it comes to representing EHAAT. For the last eight years Jordan has seen Gary head off to sign up people for our Flight for Life Lottery, but since 2017 Jordan has been working alongside his dad for Tower. As well as recruiting lots of people up to the Lottery, Gary and Jordan have led the way with sign-ups for our regular giving programme. Gary says: “We both really enjoy meeting new people and travelling. We are proud to be representing EHAAT and it is great when we approach people because everyone has already heard of the Charity!”
WANT TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF STARTING 2020 WITH AN EXTRA £3,000 IN YOUR BANK? You can enter our Christmas Raffle online, making it even easier for you to be in with a chance of winning some great prizes whilst supporting your local life-saving charity. Visit www.raffleentry.org.uk/ehaat and you can easily enter our raffle. It costs £1 per ticket, so what are you waiting for? Enter now before the closing date of Friday 3rd January 2020.
1st Prize
£3,000 2nd Prize
£500 3rd Prize
£100
Runner-up Prizes
10 x £10
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FUNDRAISING
LONDON MARATHON RUNNERS RAISE THOUSANDS
A massive thank you and huge well done to all the supporters who took part in the 39th Virgin Money London Marathon for EHAAT. A total of 16 runners took on the famous 26.2 mile course whilst supporting EHAAT. This was our biggest team yet at the London Marathon and we are thrilled that altogether the team raised over £26,000! Our golden bond places were filled by Carolyn Beal, Paul Cecil, Chloe Clark, Daniel Hughes, Mark Lanning and Ben Usher. Aaron Bailes, Kate Bennett, Anna Benton, Sam Bush, Tom Calkin, Matt Cross, Kate Gilliard, Deborah Hitching, Paul Horsley and Karl Thompson ran in aid of the charity in their own places.
If you have a place in the 2020 London Marathon, why not nominate EHAAT as your chosen charity? We can provide you with a branded running top, fundraising advice and will be cheering for you on the day.
Paul Cecil from Walton Cross “I’m proud to be a small part of this great event. In these troubled times we are made to believe we should lose our faith in love and humanity. The London Marathon proves there is an abundance of both.”
Anna Benton from Colchester “I raised over a thousand pounds for the air ambulance, so it was worth it. Sadly, they couldn’t save my dad but hopefully they can save thousands of others. I love them.”
Chloe Clark from Grays “Our family are forever thankful to the charity and I was honoured to be able to give something back. Thank you for cheering me on, it gave me the boost I needed over the last few miles.”
Ben Usher from Ware “Raising money that I know will make a difference really spurred me on, especially in the last six miles where my legs were very heavy. I hope to hit the £2,000 mark with my fundraising.”
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NATIONAL AIR AMBULANCE WEEK During this year’s National Air Ambulance Week (NAAW), running from 9th to 15th September, volunteers and staff were out and about across Essex and Hertfordshire to raise awareness and collect donations. This annual initiative sees air ambulance charities from Scotland to Cornwall working together to publicise their work and raise funds. The UK’s air ambulance charities are funded by the generosity of the public and treat over 25,000 patients a year. Across the UK an air ambulance is deployed every 10 minutes. The 21 air ambulance charities across the UK operate a total of 39 helicopters and carry out an average of over 70 potentially life-saving missions each day on average. Throughout September EHAAT’s ‘Collection Crew’ were at pre-arranged locations across the two counties speaking to members of the public, collecting donations and selling pin badges. Locations included TESCO, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, ASDA and Co-op supermarkets, garden centres, a car boot sale, Chelmsford Cricket Ground, Balstock Music Festival and the Wilkin & Sons’ Tiptree Jam Visitor Centre. In Hertfordshire, the crew at Bishop’s Stortford Fire Station saved the day by stepping in at the last minute for a collection after a group were unable to help. Others who took part during the week included: Hemel Hempstead Rotary Club, the Mayor of Hemel Hempstead and Bishop’s Stortford Air Cadets. Bucket collections at East of England Co-op in Halstead raised £1,300, while Yelo Taxis in Braintree donated £1,000 during the week. Supporter Martin Green raised over £3,000 during NAAW by cycling the Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex coastline in memory of his father. His cycle ride finished at the Charity’s North Weald Airbase. Jon Rodriguez, Head of Fundraising at EHAAT said: “NAAW is a fantastic opportunity for us to talk to people in the community about how their donations really do make a difference to our work. Thank you to everyone who took part, especially those who volunteered their time to help with collections. We couldn’t continue to bring the hospital to the patient without our amazing supporters.”
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Welcome back to the intrepid fundraisers who have just returned from the Walk the Great Wall Trek as this issue went to print. Look forward to reading all about their adventure in the next issue! We’re also excited to announce that in 2020 we will be heading to Africa to trek the Sahara Desert. If you would like to take part, more information can be found at ehaat.org/trek.
A VERY BRITISH AFTERNOON TEA SEES DOUGH-NATIONS RISE! A huge thank you to all our supporters who donned their baking aprons and put the kettle on over the summer to support EHAAT’s A Very British Afternoon Tea fundraising initiative.
Susan Palmer and Talia
Groups and individuals throughout Essex and Hertfordshire took part, raising over £26,000 in the process. With a cup of tea, a nice piece of cake and some friends – it just goes to show what a difference to the charity something so simple can do. Thank you to everyone who baked, brewed, nibbled or sipped whilst raising money for their local life-saving charity! Thank you also to our A Very British Afternoon Tea sponsors Berryworld UK and to supporters Days Bakery. Here are just some of our wonderful afternoon tea hosts this year: Susan Palmer and her 9-year-old granddaughter Talia, held their afternoon tea for friends and family and raised an incredible £369.75 by holding a raffle, a lucky dip for children and a guessing ‘how many sweets are in the jar’ game. Talia planned the day for a couple of months and was a great hostess on the day too! Tolmers Scout Camp have been supporting EHAAT since 2015 and show no signs of slowing down. They recently presented their cheque to the EHAAT team for a huge £1,800 which was raised during their afternoon tea fundraiser. Margaret House Care Home in Royston raised a wonderful £200 when staff, residents, locals and family members got involved with selling cakes, hosting a bric-a-brac sale and lots of other fundraising during their afternoon tea.
Tolmers Scout Camp
Susan Sheppard and Sarah Vernau, volunteers from EHAAT’s charity shop in Burnham-on-Crouch raised a fantastic £700 during their afternoon tea at the village hall in Tillingham. Alongside all the home-made delicious treats and a raffle, Loula, another EHAAT volunteer, sang for the guests and melted everyone’s hearts.
Margaret House Care Home
Loula, Susan Sheppard and Sarah Vernau
Download your own A Very British Afternoon Tea pack at ehaat.org/avbat
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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ON THE GROUND WHO KEEPS US IN THE SKY Our incredible fundraisers really are a varied group! From large businesses to individuals prepared to do something extraordinary, they all have one thing in common: they all want to put themselves out to raise money for their local life-saving charity. We are sorry we cannot feature all of our outstanding fundraisers on these pages, but we wholeheartedly want to thank everyone who takes the time to fundraise for us. Every donation helps to save lives.
Maldon Smoke and Fire Festival The festival, which celebrates the best cooking inspired by smoke and fire, donated an astounding £12,270.29 from its profits to EHAAT.
Goffs Academy Pupils from Goffs Academy in Cheshunt chose EHAAT as the school’s Charity of the Year and have raised a fantastic £3,684 with different events throughout the year.
Epson UK Staff at the Hemel Hempstead HQ of Epson UK raised £15,770 through collection tins and a series of fun events.
Ann Cook At the end of last year, Ann (pictured third from the left), trekked across tropical Kerala in India for EHAAT and raised over £800!
Emma Leonard Emma took on the Spartan Races as a way to raise money after a little boy she childminds, named Carter, was airlifted by EHAAT last September.
Diane and John Faulkner Congratulations and thank you to Diane and John who celebrated their golden wedding anniversary this year. Diane is a former airlifted patient and asked for donation in lieu of gifts. Her lovely friends and family donated an incredible £520.
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Darren Neely Darren and his children visited the airbase in May to present a cheque for £6,347.54. The money was raised at the incredibly successful LEGO fan convention ‘Wares the Bricks’ which he organised and held at Ware Priory in April.
Birchwood High School Students at Birchwood High School presented us with a cheque for an incredible £1,555.13. Over the past year the House Captains were busy organising a host of fundraising activities for the school including cake sales, Halloween mazes and festive fun!
West Essex Bowmen West Essex Bowmen held their 12th annual charity archery event in aid of the charity after EHAAT airlifted one of their members 13 years ago. The event raised £2,000 and was a world record status event with 200 archers taking part.
Diane Treadwell Diane raised a massive £1,539 through sponsorship of a skydive in March. The adrenaline-fuelled jump was in memory of her husband as it was the 13th anniversary of him being airlifted by EHAAT.
Pooty Pool Farms Pooty Pool Farm donated an amazing £388 to EHAAT following their Tractor Run in May. Starting the day with a full English, the 19 tractors then headed out on the country lanes near Roxwell to raise money.
Barclays Over 150 people attended Barclays ‘Test the Team’ quiz night held at Stockbrook Country Club in aid of EHAAT. Whilst testing their knowledge, they managed to raise a staggering £10,314.84!
The Woolpack Inn and Red Fox Brewery The team from Coggeshall have been organising an annual Golf Day since 2011. This year 58 golfers took part raising £3,510! Since 2011, the total raised is an incredible £10,637.71 for EHAAT.
Martin Green Martin spent the start of September by cycling 400 miles of the East Anglian coast in memory of his father, finishing at EHAAT’s North Weald Airbase. Martin raised over £3,000!
Susan Greenhill Baking on some of the hottest days of the year, Susan raised over £5,000 through a cake sale and raffle at the Barclays bank in Hertford where she works. The remarkable amount was donated in memory of her son, Christopher.
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EVENTS
HOUNDS LEAD THE WAY TO SUPPORT EHAAT AT HATFIELD HOUSE Our summer Heli Hounds walk at Hatfield House on Sunday 9th June attracted nearly two hundred dogs and their owners, raising several thousand pounds. Participants could choose from three beautiful routes through the grounds, before taking part in a fun dog show and watching demonstrations by TV dog behaviourist Dima Yeremenko. EHAAT mascot Dr Dani also put in an appearance to say hello to some furry friends. EHAAT Events Manager Emily Donnachie said: “After rain the day before, we were lucky to have nice sunny weather for the event and a great turnout. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and walked with their four-legged friend in support of their local life-saving charity.”
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Dima Y Simo eremenko n Wa lsh an with EHA AT d Nao mi Pr ’s itcha rd
A first pl
ace pup
MOTORCYCLE RUN CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SUPPORT FROM BIKERS Our two motorcycle events were again hugely popular in 2019, attracting a joint total of nearly five thousand bikers. Sunday 12th May was the date for the Spring Motorcycle Run from Welwyn Garden City to our North Weald Airbase. This was followed on Sunday 8th September with the ride from Ford Dunton to Harwich. The numbers at the two events were boosted by the hundreds of supporters who turned out to attend our free family fun days, where they could enjoy great food, live music, children’s rides and stunt shows. It was a particularly special occasion for the Dunton to Harwich ride as it was the 20th anniversary of the event! On finishing the 60-mile route at Harwich, the riders were welcomed by a crowd of hundreds, including the town’s Mayor and Mayoress along with Town Crier James Cole. At the family fun day, held on Harwich Green, crowds were entertained by top class performances from Faux Fighters UK and ProtoStereo. Alongside a multitude of stalls to browse, spectators were also able to get a close up view of one of our helicopters, with the AW169 landing on the foreshore at Harwich. It was great to see a steady stream of people throughout the day who wanted to get their photograph taken with the helicopter or ask the critical care team some questions. Over the last twenty years our Motorcycle Run events have developed into really special community days and two of our key fundraising events of the year thanks to the amazing support we receive from the bikers and local people. We would also like to thank all our dedicated volunteers and sponsors without whom we could not put on events like these.
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VOLUNTEERING
VOLUNTEER LEADS LOCAL ROTARIANS TO GREAT FUNDRAISING SUCCESS In July 2018, EHAAT Volunteer Lesley Sulley became Rotary International District Governor for the year in Essex and East Hertfordshire. Throughout her year in post she encouraged all 63 Rotary Groups (1,600 Rotarians) in her district to host at least one event in aid of EHAAT. Events included golf days, Christmas sleigh collections, Marks Hall Garden & Country Show and many more. Over the course of the year, we have received donations from 23 different Rotary Groups in Essex and Hertfordshire which have totalled £56,197.34 – an incredible amount raised! Lesley visited the team at the Earls Colne Airbase to present the cheque in July. Thank you to Lesley and all the Rotary Groups for your support! Le
(in pink sley Sulley
t-shir t) pres
ents the ch
eque to EH
AAT
She explains: “My ex-brother-in-law was airlifted from the M11 by another air ambulance. I asked a volunteer from Essex Air Ambulance to come along and give a talk to my floristry club. After the talk I knew I wanted to volunteer. “Now I help out wherever I can: doing administration in the office, collecting donation tins, attending events, and I give talks to groups and pick up donations. It keeps me busy!” Since 2018, Di often volunteers alongside her twin sister, Sue Williams.
OUR VOLUNTEER STORY Twin sisters and EHAAT volunteers Diane Leggett and Sue Williams are a familiar sight at the EHAAT office in Earls Colne. Diane, known by everyone as Di, began volunteering 15 years ago for what was then Essex Air Ambulance and had a very personal reason for getting involved with the charity.
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FLIGHT FOR LIFE MAGAZINE | AUTUMN 2019
“It was my ex-husband who was airlifted, so I’ve always had a reason to do it. Up until last year I didn’t have enough time because I was working. Before retirement I saw a lot of the EHAAT helicopters during my working day. I was running the executive office for a health trust and I used to watch the air ambulances land at Queen’s Hospital, Romford. “I’ve had years of Di badgering me, but it wasn’t until I retired that I felt I could get involved as a volunteer. I’ve started to help at EHAAT events and in the office. I’ve been made Chair of the Volunteer Forum, so I’ve been meeting lots of volunteers, getting to know them and looking forward to where the journey will go!”
Whether you can give us a little time occasionally or a lot of time regularly, our volunteer team would love to hear from you and help answer any questions about what is involved. Even a few hours of your time can make all the difference. Contact the team at volunteerteam@ehaat.org
TERESA’S AMAZING CONTRIBUTION TO EHAAT
CEO Jane Gurney presents Tracy James with an award, recognising her mother’s volunteering efforts.
During National Volunteer Week in June, EHAAT CEO Jane Gurney made a special presentation to volunteer Tracy James in honour of the amazing contribution her late mother Teresa made to EHAAT over 18 years of volunteering. Teresa sadly passed away in December 2018, but her contribution to the Charity will always be remembered by those who knew her. Teresa joined us in 2001 and soon became a familiar face at events such as our Motorcycle Runs. The numerous collection tins which Teresa looked after brought in over £51,000 during that time. She attended a huge number of community events and cheque presentations, and was always ready to help office staff with whatever jobs needed doing, from packing envelopes to counting cash. With Teresa’s passing last year, the Charity feel putting her forward for the Association of Air Ambulances Volunteer of the Year Award is a
very fitting way to remember her and the huge support she gave to EHAAT as a volunteer. Tracy, who is also a volunteer with EHAAT, sums up how much it meant to her mother: “I knew the tins were always in the house, but I didn’t take much notice of how many. That’s just what she did. There was always a box of merchandise in the hallway ready for the next event. She was absolutely dedicated to it. She would get out her diary and tell you that she couldn’t go on holiday on this date or that because she had to do something for the air ambulance. It was that important to her.” Teresa was one of a kind, she is missed by her amazing family, her huge circle of friends; for EHAAT her loss reaches far further than just our staff and volunteers, it goes out to all those tin holders, event organisers and thousands of bikers that Teresa had contact with over her amazing 18 years with us.
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RETAIL
the ale in First s e shop e tr Brain
BRAINTREE HOSTS NEW CHARITY SHOP After being officially opened at a ceremony attended by Mrs Jennifer Tolhurst, Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Braintree becomes the ninth EHAAT charity shop. On 25 July, a brief ceremony took place at the shop to officially open the premises. The event was also attended by Cllr Angela Kilmartin, Chairman of Braintree Council, EHAAT CEO Jane Gurney, and members of the council. Tara McIntyre from Braintree, a former airlifted patient, and now volunteer, spoke movingly about how the th
Charity saved her life following a road traffic collision in which a drunk driver crashed into her when she was just 22. We are delighted with the response we’ve had from people donating goods and visiting already. The new shop took in £2,500 from sales in the first week and fittingly the first item purchased was a toy helicopter!
The Braintree Charity Shop is located at 90 High Street, CM7 1JP and open Monday to Saturday, 9am–4pm.
WE WANT YOUR ELECTRONIC GOODS! We’re thrilled that Royston’s Charity Shop Assistant, John Rees, is now a qualified PAT tester! This means we can start to sell electrical goods in our Royston shop. We would love
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any electrical donations you can give. They can be donated at any of our shops and we will transport them to John to be tested before sale. Thank you for your support!
FLIGHT FOR LIFE MAGAZINE | AUTUMN 2019
A selection of 9 Garfield soft toys which went for £41
EXCELLING ON EBAY
8 of The Beatles vinyl LPs which sold for £22
Since the E-commerce team got on board and online last year, the eBay sales have been going from strength to strength and have already raised well over £80,000! The team, based at the EHAAT warehouse in Stevenage, have started noticing some frequent bidders and are now regularly sending items to the same local supporters who are supporting the charity by putting their best bid forward. Some of our most recent sales include:
A sterling silver whisky decanter label from 1956 which fetched £26
A Toy Story watch from 1995 which sold for £20
If you have an item that you think we could sell on eBay and raise money for EHAAT, contact tracey.gwynne@ehaat.org A vintage overlocker sewing machine sold for £109
EXC LUS TO IV O ON UR N E LIN E ES W HO P
OUR TENTH SHOP! EHAAT’s newest shop at Eastwood near Southend-on-Sea opened for trading on 30th September.
SECURE YOUR NEW EHAAT MERCHANDISE NOW! ehaat.org/shop
The premises were previously occupied by an animal welfare charity, and we are delighted that all the volunteers have decided to transfer over to EHAAT. We have also recruited a manager to oversee the shop. The premises were given a makeover by our retail and facilities teams before the opening.
Donna Lee, Head of Retail, said: “We’re really excited about opening our first shop in this part of Essex and look forward to welcoming supporters in the area in what we hope will become a real community hub. We are confident that we’ll soon have lots of people coming through the doors with donations or looking for bargains!”
The Eastwood Charity Shop is located at 412 Rayleigh Road, SS9 5PT and open Monday to Saturday, 9am-4.30pm.
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CLINICAL/OPERATIONS
AEROMEDICAL CONFERENCE FOCUSES ON REFLECT, LEARN AND INNOVATE In June, over 300 clinicians, professionals, students and partner agencies travelled from across the UK to attend the tenth anniversary of EHAAT’s Aeromedical Conference. This year the free-to-attend conference provided the opportunity to reflect on themes of previous years, a platform to discuss lessons learned and to think about innovations for the future. The broad topic allowed a wide range of subjects to be raised and discussed. ‘Good Morning Britain’ Weather Presenter and Anti-knife Crime Campaigner, Alex Beresford, spoke movingly about tackling the issue of knife crime and its impact on his own family after his cousin was tragically killed in a knife attack earlier in the year. Keynote speaker for the day was Assistant Commissioner Graham Ellis, Head of Operational Resilience and Special Operations Group at London Fire Brigade (LFB). Mr Ellis undertook the Gold Commander role for LFB during several terror attacks on London in 2017 and gave a fascinating account of his experiences during these major incidents.
Duncan Bew, Consultant Trauma and Acute Care Surgeon at King’s College Hospital, looked at the causes of knife crime. Dr Matt O’Meara, Pre-hospital Care Consultant at EHAAT and Dr Phil Cowburn, Medical Director of Great Western Air Ambulance, alongside Critical Care Paramedics Charli Watkins and Dee Gordon, each shared lessons learned from challenging cases. Critical Care Paramedics Sam Immens and Elisabeth Hanrahan of the New South Wales Ambulance Rescue Service discussed a mission which saw them treating a patient trapped in a deep hole in a remote area of the Outback. There were also presentations from Home Office Registered Forensic Pathologist Dr Ben Swift and San Diego-based Flight Paramedic Phil Grieve, who was EHAAT’s first Clinical Director and created the concept of the Aeromedical Conference. Thank you to Anglia Ruskin University, Leonardo Helicopters, MDS and Specialist Aviation Services for their support of this event. We hope to continue attracting thought-provoking speakers and seeing colleagues come together and share knowledge and best practice at this event for at least another ten years.
Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Aeromedical Conference 2019
Alex B
eresfo rd discus se s knife crime
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EHAAT CEO Jane Gurney and Medical Director Dr Ronan Fenton with the speakers of the day.
SPECIALIST MEDICAL TRAINING LANDS AT EHAAT As part of EHAAT’s dedication to innovation and development, we are excited to now provide specialist training for doctors undertaking the Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) Training Programme in the East of England. The PHEM programme, which lasts a year, is for doctors with a background in anaesthesia, emergency medicine, intensive care medicine or acute internal medicine who train in the medical sub-specialty of pre-hospital emergency medicine. To complete it, participants attend a series of training days and courses, as well as gaining experience with a relevant service provider such as EHAAT and in the emergency department of a hospital. They also come together with other PHEM trainees across the region for simulator-based training, training days, case review days, specialist courses, and joint training with other services. At the beginning of August, we welcomed Dr Oliver Jefferson and Dr Lyle Moncur to their first day at EHAAT and the start of their year-long training. During nine intensive days of training with their fellow PHEMS trainees, Oliver and Lyle had to tackle a series of realistic simulations under challenging conditions. Oliver said: “Even though we’re working with mannequins, the assessors make it very realistic by constantly updating you on how the patient’s wellbeing has changed. The mannequins don’t feel real, but they act real!”
THE STUDENT BECOMES THE DOCTOR Back in 2010, Chris King was one of the first two medical students to undertake the student elective programme at EHAAT, set up to help students gain vital first-hand experience during a four-to-six week course. Now nearly a decade later, we are so thrilled to welcome Chris back to EHAAT as a pre-hospital care doctor. He is the first former student to do so. Dr King explained: “The team were so welcoming and really inspired me to learn more about caring for critically ill patients. I’ve spent the past nine years training as an anaesthetist and have been waiting for the day I could return to EHAAT as a flight doctor. “In the interim EHAAT has welcomed me back for further observer shifts, clinical governance days and its excellent annual Aeromedical Conference.” Over the past 10 years EHAAT’s medical student training has expanded rapidly. It now regularly welcomes medical students from Cambridge, Barts and the London and Anglia Ruskin Universities, as well as elective students from across the world. Chris is now looking forward to help train and inspire the next generation of pre-hospital care providers.
Oliver and
Lyle during
training
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FEATURE
THE THE VOLUNTEERS VOLUNTEERS BEHIND... BEHIND...
BLOOD ON BOARD The tireless work of the volunteer riders and drivers of the Essex Voluntary Blood Service (EVBS) has been essential in allowing us to carry blood on board our helicopters and rapid response vehicles since the launch in March. Using motorbikes or cars, they transport the blood from The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow to our airbases at North Weald and Earls Colne. They deliver the blood daily to the airbases where it must be stored in special cool boxes that keep it at a correct temperature. If unused after 24 hours, the EVBS collect and return the blood to the blood donation system for use elsewhere. Peter Latham (pictured above) from Chelmsford began volunteering as a driver with EVBS in February 2017, and has been transporting blood for EHAAT since March this year. We caught up with him to find out more about what volunteering for the EVBS entails and why he does it.
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EHAAT supporter, Brenda Gascoyne, is no stranger to giving blood. Brenda has given blood 33 times, while her brother Brian has notched up an incredible 104 donations. When she heard that we were carrying blood on board, Brenda sent us her original poem which she hopes will encourage more donors to sign up to give blood. Thank you Brenda!
The Blood Donor Come with me a little while, I’ll show you how it is, To calm your fears and stop the flood, They stand there in their uniforms, And say I want your blood. “So do I,” you cry on back, And run the other way, Let me put your mind at rest, And help you live another day. A finger test to show you’re fit, Before they take some more, Then in your arm the needle goes, So that the blood it starts to flow. Repre se Hospit ntatives fr om EH al and AAT, E V BS Th launc h Bloo e Princess Alexa d on B ndra oard.
“I’m on the rota every Thursday and go out twice a month to do dropoffs and collections for EHAAT. The rest of the time I go to hospitals or between counties. “For the air ambulance run I will leave home in Chelmsford at about 10pm and get back at 2 or 2.30am depending on road conditions. It’s about 170 miles of travelling from my house to The Princess Alexandra Hospital, the airbases, then back home! “When the air ambulance work came up, it was important to get as many volunteers as possible involved because it’s a long run. You can’t do it every night so you have to make sure you have enough people to do it. “It’s our money and time, and we pay for our own fuel, tax and insurance. EVBS is a charity, and we get nothing back, but am happy to do it as payback for all the health service has done for me. There’s a lot of camaraderie between the volunteers, so you can put a call out if you can’t do a particular night and people will swap with you. “I’ve played EHAAT’s Flight for Life Lottery for a number of years and it’s given me a good insight into the Charity’s work. Most people know of EHAAT, but don’t realise the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. It’s a bit like the blood runners. Not so many people have heard of EVBS and of those, only a few realise exactly what’s involved and the variety of services undertaken using cars as well as bikes.”
It doesn’t hurt, not a bit, Nor does it take too long, And for the little that you lose, Could make other people strong. When it’s all done a rest you have, For now you’ve done your bit, As far as the crew’s concerned, You’re now a great big hit. You’re led away for biscuits and tea, Then you can go on your way, To work, to shops, or home, Whichever way you want to roam. You don’t have to be a loner, Join the club, become a donor. Although blood brothers rarely meet, What you have done is quite a feat, What you have given you won’t miss, If you ever met you’d get a kiss. Life is so precious, this I know, So come on folks let the blood flow, Who’ll need it next, who can tell? All ages and all needs, From tiny babes to OAPs. The gift of blood, it has no price, What it has is the gift of life.
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SANTA ISN’T THE ONLY ONE FLYING
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