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North West Air Ambulance Charity: Introduction
The North West Air Ambulance Charity is one of the causes Play It Green members have helped raise thousands of pounds for through our 10% regive. It is a charity defined by urgency and expertise, stepping in at moments when seconds matter and outcomes are uncertain.
Serving more than eight million people across the North West of England, the charity operates across a vast region from Carlisle to Crewe. It runs 365 days a year, deploying three helicopters and four critical care cars to reach people in life-threatening emergencies as quickly as possible.
At the centre of the service are highly skilled consultant doctors and critical care paramedics, delivering advanced medical care directly at the scene. Since launching in 1999, the charity has responded to more than 45,000 missions, supporting people and families across the region at their most critical moments.
Operating a service of this scale costs around £18 million each year. The charity receives no routine government or NHS funding. Every mission depends on public generosity.
How the donations are used
Donations to the North West Air Ambulance Charity, including those made through Play It Green’s members, allow the charity to keep its crews fully equipped and ready to respond at any time.
One practical example is the funding of controlled drugs carried by the crews. These medicines are used regularly at the scene of serious incidents and are a core part of advanced pre-hospital care. The charity stocks morphine, fentanyl, diazepam, ketamine, and midazolam, alongside pre-filled syringes of ketamine and fentanyl to allow rapid, accurate administration under pressure.
These drugs are vital for managing pain, stabilising patients, and protecting brain function following trauma or cardiac events. Supplying them costs the charity around £1,500 every month. Unrestricted donations help cover these ongoing costs, ensuring crews can act immediately without hesitation.
North West Air Ambulance Charity Real-world impact
Nicola was 38, fit, healthy, and an active mum when she suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing while putting her daughter into her car seat. Her husband Ben began CPR straight away, with members of the public stepping in to help. When paramedics arrived, they delivered shocks using a defibrillator in an attempt to restart her heart.
Critical Care Paramedic Mikey from the North West Air Ambulance Charity received the call and mobilised immediately and the crew quickly arrived at the scene.
Nicola remained unresponsive. Mikey and his colleague Lee worked to restart her heart, delivering another shock after identifying an extremely rare heart rhythm. Her heart briefly restarted, then went into a second cardiac arrest. After further CPR and another shock, her heart began beating again.
The crew then administered medication to sedate Nicola and protect her brain as they accompanied her to hospital. That advanced care, delivered before she ever reached a ward, saved her life. Without it, she would not have survived.
Why this support matters
The North West Air Ambulance Charity exists for moments like these. Its crews arrive when situations are at their most fragile, bringing calm, clinical skill, and hospital-level care into unpredictable environments. Donations to them are not abstract. They directly fund the equipment, medicines, and readiness that keep this service operational every day.
North West Air Ambulance Charity: Wrap up
The North West Air Ambulance Charity is there on the worst day of someone’s life, providing critical care when time is the most precious resource. It is a service built on expertise, readiness, and public support, operating without routine government or NHS funding.
Through Play It Green’s 10% regive, members have helped raise thousands of pounds to support this lifesaving work. Those contributions help keep crews equipped, aircraft flying, and critical care available across the North West when it is needed most.
This partnership reflects what Play It Green exists to do. Turning everyday business activity into real-world impact, supporting causes that protect lives and communities at home and abroad.
Contact the North West Air Ambulance Charity via their website.
Quotes
North West Air Ambulance Charity High Value Fundraising Assistant, Lauren Herrity
“Thank you to Play It Green’s members for their generous donations. Your donations will contribute to keeping NWAA’s vital service operational 365 days a year across the North West. The government and NHS don’t keep us flying. Your donations do!”
Play It Green Founder, Richard Dickson
“The North West Air Ambulance Charity does work most of us hope we never need, but we’re all grateful exists. When someone’s life is on the line, they bring hospital-level care to the scene and give people a fighting chance. Through our 10% regive, Play It Green members have helped raise thousands of pounds to support that work, and I’m proud of the impact that’s creating locally.”
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