About Air Ambulances UK
Air Ambulances UK (AAUK) is the national charity supporting the lifesaving work of the UK’s air ambulance charities, enabling them to save even more lives every day.
Air ambulance crews bring the Emergency Department to patients who have suffered a life threatening or life changing trauma or medical emergency; providing advanced critical care to save lives.
Anyone, anywhere can become a patient at any time. On average an air ambulance can reach someone in urgent need within 15 minutes. Air ambulance charities attend over 102* lifesaving missions each day across the UK which is over 37,000* missions every year. Each lifesaving mission by air costs on average £3,962** and is funded almost entirely by donations from the generosity of local communities.
*based on 2021 data
**cost varies depending on the needs of the patient, the geography and the clinical and operational models of the local air ambulance charity.
Air Ambulances UK's Challenges
Demand for air ambulance services continues to grow as many of the UK’s air ambulance services recorded their busiest ever year in 2022.
As an example, in 2022 Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance, the sole charitable air ambulance service in Scotland, responded to 967 call outs from its bases at Perth and Aberdeen airports – a 19% increase on the previous year.
As air ambulances operate as charities and receive no day-to-day government or national lottery funding, and with demand for their services increasing, they rely on the generosity of the general public to be able to continue to save lives. Along with the wider charity sector, the cost-of-living crisis has and continues to impact the level of donations received across the air ambulance community, as well as the costs associated with attending missions (e.g. crew kit, fuel).
Air Ambulance UK simply can’t save lives without the support of individuals, corporate partnerships, trusts & foundations and more, so your generosity is needed now more than ever.
Air Ambulances UK's Achievements / Goals
Air Ambulance Week 2023
Each year, during the first week of September, Air Ambulance Week takes off across the UK. This special week is exclusively dedicated to increasing awareness and generating funds for the vital lifesaving work of air ambulance charities and is organised by Air Ambulances UK. The national charity supports the lifesaving work of the UK’s air ambulance charities, enabling them to save even more lives every day.
Their campaign this year was a remarkable success, including the publication of two articles in The Metro, coverage on ITV and BBC Radio 2, support from the Prince and Princess of Wales, illumination of landmarks across the UK, and much more.
Jude Morris Innovation & Development Fund
The Jude Morris Innovation and Development Fund was established in 2022 and is their first innovation and development fund as part of AAUK’s Saving More Lives strategy.
Jude Morris was a 17-year-old talented motocross rider who sadly lost his life whilst competing in the 2021 Youth British Motocross Championship in Duns, Scotland. Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance was called, but unfortunately, Jude had suffered such catastrophic injuries there was nothing that could be done to save him.
The Morris family asked the motocross community to support Air Ambulances UK in celebration of Jude’s life. We launched the Jude Morris Innovation and Development Fund in 2022 with the first round of grants awarded earlier this year. The fund, in celebration of Jude’s life, supports emerging technology for air ambulance operations, research to improve patient care, training to develop, support and enable new clinical interventions for air ambulance crews and any other innovative developments to deliver safe and high-quality patient care.
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