Leonardo, one of the UK’s leading aerospace companies, has recently made a £3,000 injection to local Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Charity, Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.  The sponsorship has been provided to help the charity invest in CRM training and development for the charity team to help meet its ambitions fundraising targets for 2024/2025 of £2.5m.   

Air Ambulance NI is the charity that delivers pre-hospital critical care at scene, through its partnership with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.  In its almost 7 years of operations, the service has been called to critically injured patients across NI on over 4,174 occasions.  As the need for the service has grown, so have fundraising costs required to keep it operational.  

Kerry Anderson, Head of Fundraising, said, “In almost 7 years the demands on our charity have grown from an initial annual funding need of £2m to now £2.5m to ensure the service is sustained for the people of Northern Ireland.  We are very grateful to Leonardo for their sponsorship towards progression in our CRM system.  Being able to integrate and develop our CRM helps ensure the efficiency of our charity. Sponsorship is just one of the ways that businesses can support air ambulance, with other ways including team building activities, fundraising events, skill share volunteering, payroll giving and gifts in kind.” 

Jim Griffin, Global Sales Head of Region, UK and Ireland at Leonardo Helicopters, commented: “Leonardo is proud to support the Air Ambulance NI with our AW109 reaching people quickly and safely. We recognise that every donation is a lifeline in the sky, providing critical support to injured patients across Northern Ireland. With the CRM system advancement, this will empower the charity further to continue efficiently with its life-saving work.”  

The charity is responsible for aviation governance associated with the service, ensuring there is an aircraft and pilot available 365 days of the year for the 12 hours of operation.  On average, the HEMS is needed twice daily, and the aircraft is used for 75% of the call outs, flying at 180mph, reaching even the furthest locations from the Lisburn airbase in 25 minutes.