17 Sep 2018
250 fundraisers took part in our sixth annual abseil this weekend, braving the descent from Europe’s tallest helipad to help our charity. The event has reached its largest ever fundraising total, with an incredible £118,000 raised to help our team treat an average of five critically injured patients each day.
The event was launched on Thursday morning by comedian and Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis, alongside TV’s Dr Hilary Jones. Hugh was challenged to take on the abseil on ITV’s Lorraine during last year’s event and, true to his word, completed the descent live on air this year.
Hugh was followed by individual and corporate supporters who conquered their fears to help keep our service flying. We were also joined by TV presenter Helen Fospero, who returned to take on the challenge for a second year after auctioning off the chance to abseil with her, to help raise extra funds for our life saving charity.
The four day event was part of National Air Ambulance Week, a nationwide event to raise awareness of air ambulances and their charitable status. We also marked the week with a digital campaign — You Stop We Stop, encouraging our supporters to share the message that we are reliant on public donations and that if you stop donating, we stop flying.
The amount raised by the abseil is enough for our service to treat 70 patients, an incredible fundraising accomplishment from all who took part. Thank you so much to everyone who went over the edge, and everyone who donated to support them, for helping our charity and helping make the 2018 National Air Ambulance Week one of our most successful yet.
