In For A Penny, In For A Mission

Unable to host bucket collections due to the pandemic, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is urging the public to continue to donate their pennies and pounds via a virtual bucket collection.

Each year the charity relies on collection tin and bucket donations to fund the yearly fuel consumption for all three of the rapid response service’s helicopters. This is just one example of why the local air ambulance charity is forecasting a £5million fundraising income deficit this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the funding shortfall, demand for the service has continued to rise as the country moves out of lockdown with missions increasing by a third over recent months. The charity is therefore shaking its online collection bucket and is encouraging anyone who can spare a few pennies to visit: justgiving.com/campaign/maaconlinebucketcollection

The latest initiative launches on the day the charity would have hosted its Tatenhill Airbase Open Day, on Sunday 28^th June 2020 and will run for 11 weeks until the Strensham Airbase Open Day, on Sunday 13^th September 2020 with Midlands Air Ambulance Charity hoping to exceed its target of £10,000. This amount would fund 14 of the rapid response service’s missions – three air and 11 by critical care car.

If you have a few pennies to spare and want to help make a Midlands Air Ambulance Charity mission possible, you can donate to the virtual online collection bucket in the following ways:

• justgiving.com/campaign/maaconlinebucketcollection
• Alternatively, you can send a one off donation direct to the charity through its website: midlandsairambulance.com/donatenow
• Or if you prefer to text to donate, you can do so by simply, texting MISSIONPOSSIBLE followed by the amount of your choice to 70085. (For example, MISSIONPOSSIBLE £3). Please note, you will be charged your donation amount and two standard rate messages.

Emma Gray, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, explains: “As a number of our popular fundraising events have been postponed or cancelled, opportunities for bucket collections have become scarce. We would welcome any support that local people can provide to help bridge the 48 per cent gap we are expecting to experience this financial year.

“Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, demand for our pre-hospital emergency care service has not faltered, which is why we have moved our focus to online methods of fundraising to make sure the donations continue for our important lifesaving cause.”