East Anglian Air Ambulance is still flying and saving lives, and the charity needs fundraising help to continue its life-saving work
Flying from Cambridge and Norwich, the life-saving charity East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) – which is Bright Publishing’s chosen charity of the year! – hasn’t missed a shift due to the coronavirus pandemic, and has remained operational throughout.
The charity has had to adapt quickly, like so many organisations, to the challenges that Covid-19 has brought, particularly the new and urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE).
Community support has helped to keep EAAA flying safely
The EAAA crew will need to wear PPE on every mission for the foreseeable future, as the risk of being exposed to the virus while they deliver an emergency procedure outside of hospital is not going to go away any time soon. EAAA is incredibly thankful to everyone who has supported the emergency appeal to raise the funds needed to keep its crews safe and protected on every mission, as well as to every supplier who either donated or helped its operations team source the essential PPE required.
Supporting the NHS
EAAA was proud to adapt its service to help the region’s hospitals during the peak of cases in April. By sending its critical care teams by air to hospitals that had reached capacity in intensive care, EAAA was able to use its out-of-hospital critical care skills to help transfer Covid-19 patients by road ambulance to another intensive care unit in the region with more room.
Introducing: Together We Run!
At the same time, the charity’s income has been affected. Most of its fundraising events and activities have had to be postponed or cancelled, and many of its volunteers have been unable to volunteer out in the community safely. Fundraising activities are slowly getting back to normal, with Together We Run, EAAA’s first-ever virtual fundraising challenge, taking place between 14 and 21 September. The aim is to complete 2,000 miles collectively during the week, walking or running, with the 2,000-mile target selected to mark the year 2000, when EAAA was first established. That’s twenty years of saving lives, all thanks to the generosity of local people!
If you would like to pledge a few miles towards the Together we Run target, head to eaaa.org.uk/werun. You will be randomly allocated to one of four teams, headed up by a member of the EAAA crew, who will also be taking part in the challenge. Team points will be awarded for miles pledged and pounds raised, so you can help your team be crowned the winners through running/walking or fundraising! Anyone can take part, no matter their age or fitness ability, and your donation will help people across East Anglia in their hour of need.
