London Freemasons donate a further £500k to London’s Air Ambulance
Howard Lake | 10 November 2016 | News
London Freemasons have donated £500,000 to London’s Air Ambulance. The gift, made on their Investiture Day, is the final instalment of their pledge to raise £2 million to help the charity purchase a second helicopter for London.
As a result, London’s Air Ambulance is now able to fly more days, longer hours, and take its advanced trauma care to more people across the capital.
In 2015, the single emergency medical helicopter was out of action for the equivalent of 62 days for necessary maintenance. Since the second aircraft became operational in January 2016, the service has only been without helicopter cover for the equivalent of five days.
London Freemasons has 40,000 members in 1,350 lodges across the capital. It raised the money through personal contributions from members meeting across London.
Metropolitan Grand Master, Sir Michael Snyder said:
“London Freemasons have responded magnificently to the challenge, totally embracing the initiative and allowing us to complete the fundraising in only 18 months rather than the expected 24! It hasn’t just been our members either, as they have been joined by their families and friends in totally supporting our pledge to support the communities of London with this very special and now completed project.”
The cost of running the London’s Air Ambulance, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is £8.5 million a year. The charity’s doctors are seconded from Barts Health NHS Trust, and its paramedics from London Ambulance Service. All other costs, including running costs, pilots, fire crew, fuel and charity staff are entirely funded by donations.
London Freemasons have also recently donated five high powered Volkswagen Tiguan rapid response cars to help support the work of the London Ambulance Service on the roads of London.
Advertisement
Related posts
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.