The Great North Air Ambulance Service has been activated six times to the island since a new contract was agreed between Manx Care and the charity.
Currently GNAAS’ critical care service will continue on the island until the end of the financial year.
Manx Care will fund the service based on a per-mission costing and the charity committing to strengthening its fundraising activities.
It is estimated that the charity needs to raise at least £124,000 per year to cover additional costs, specific to operating in the Isle of Man.
New Contract
Monthly donations are currently averaging £5,000; however, this is only half of what the charity needs to sustain its service in the Isle of Man.
They’ve recently recruited a fundraiser based on the island who will be starting within the month to help achieve the necessary funding target.
In the last four months, the charity’s critical care team has responded to three road traffic collisions, two assaults, and one cardiac arrest, providing advanced treatment on scene before airlifting patients to specialised hospitals in the UK.
Response
The air ambulance charity has responded more than 65 times to incidents on the island since the service was commissioned in March 2022 by Manx Care.
During this period, colleagues from GNAAS have been working hard to increase their presence on the Isle of Man and raise enough funds to continue offering their service to residents and tourists on the Island.
At the end of July, GNAAS’ interim CEO Joe Garcia, paramedic Andy Dalton, and CSR and philanthropy specialist Natasha Banks will visit the Isle of Man to support the growth of their engagement and fundraising activities.
Fundraising
Mr Garcia said: “We’re looking forward to meeting the Manx community this month and spreading the word of the vital work we do.
“We’ve seen some fantastic fundraising carried out recently on the Island, including those who participated in the Parish Walk and a very generous donation of £30,000 from the Peel charity shop, which is greatly appreciated.
“We are very proud to be able to provide our pre-hospital service to the Island and make a positive difference in people’s lives.”
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