7 Dec 2018
As part of our ‘Your London, Your Helicopter’ campaign for a second emergency medical helicopter, we have today launched a new competition to name both aircraft.
The charity is calling on children under the age of 16 who live or go to school within the M25 to enter by submitting a name for one of the helicopters and a reason for why it should be called this. The two best reasons will be picked, and the winning names will be placed on the charity’s aircraft. The two lucky winners will also get to visit the London’s Air Ambulance helipad, on top of The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, to see their chosen name in all its glory.
Parents or guardians must enter their children’s suggestion on their behalf and are encouraged to help us get a second emergency medical helicopter for London by also donating to the campaign. Our team of doctors, pilots, paramedics and fire crew will be judging the entries. All name submissions must be 15 characters or less and the deadline for applications is Friday 28th August at 5pm.
Neil Jeffers, Chief Pilot at London’s Air Ambulance said: “Every time we fly, we deliver the hospital to the patient’s side up to eight times faster than in a rapid response car. Every incident we go to via helicopter, we are airborne within just a few minutes, flying over the busy city landscape to anywhere within the M25 to the side of those most in need.
“This competition is a brilliant opportunity for two lucky people to get their chosen name flying with us too, and become a part of our life-saving operations.”
We deliver an advanced trauma team to critically injured people in London 24/7, using a helicopter by day and rapid response cars at night or in adverse weather conditions. In 2014 our helicopter was offline for maintenance for 55 days in total. Through the acquisition of a second helicopter and by extending our daylight flying hours in the summer months, we will be able to reach an estimated 400 more patients per year by aircraft. By having a helicopter available at all times, it will also give London greater resilience during major incidents.
In its largest ever fundraising drive, the ‘Your London, Your Helicopter’ campaign is hoping to raise £6 million, of which £2.1 million is still needed, to acquire and sustain a second helicopter and extend its daylight flying hours for five years.