Prince William and David Beckham have visited two new air ambulances funded by a charity appeal supported by Newsquest London.
London’s Air Ambulance charity launched its Up Against Time appeal two years ago in the hope of raising £15 million to renew its helicopter fleet.
Last year, to help raise awareness of the campaign, Newsquest London reported on some of the people who owe their lives to the efforts of the charity’s paramedics.
Following the appeal’s success, Prince William and David Beckham visited the two new helicopters at RAF Northolt this morning (October 1).
They met with pilots and medical crew – although predicted bad weather forced the cancellation of the delivery flight of one of the helicopters from the military airfield to the Royal London Hospital.
In all, £16 million was raised during the campaign, with the single biggest donation coming from the charity’s partnership with Omaze.
This raised £4 million in just six weeks during the prize draw for a multi-million pound house in Victoria Park village.
After the August announcement that enough money to replace the fleet had been raised, Prince William - himself a former pilot for East Anglian Air Ambulance - hailed the “fantastic news”.
He said on X: "This is going to have a life-saving impact. A huge thank you to everyone who donated.”
London’s Air Ambulance Charity was established in 1989 and aims to bring the skills and equipment of a hospital emergency department to the scene of an incident.
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