We have hit the £2.85million Heli2 Appeal target for your second lifesaving helicopter!
Wow! What an incredible journey this has been. The phenomenal success has been down to the generosity of people like you – across Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and beyond – who have kindly supported our fundraising efforts over the last 18 months.
This is a landmark moment for your local lifesaving charity and will enable us to attend more of our missions by air, as well as help many more patients for years to come.
remaining of the £2.85 million #HELi2 Appeal. Thank you to all of our amazing supporters – you did it!
Bringing your second helicopter home
Meet G-CNLL – your second lifesaving AW169 helicopter. With the aircraft scheduled to be in Cornwall and operational by early summer, you can learn all about the complex process that has brought your second helicopter to life…
Your second AW169 is now undergoing its medical fit, to turn it into a fully functioning critical care resource.
Once complete, the aircraft will go into operation and take to the skies over Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly later this summer.
Thank you for being part of the Heli2 mission and helping us to save even more lives.
The AW169 provides us with a class-leading clinical HEMS environment, which is all thanks to the medical fit in the rear cabin. The fit includes vital structures such as a state-of-the-art stretcher system allowing almost 360-degree access to the patient, the translating seat which allows myself, or any other attending clinician, to monitor and treat the patient during flight, and it gives us rapid access to all of our specialist equipment. Without the medical fit, we cannot transport our kit to scene, carry out lifesaving interventions or convey patients to hospital.
Lisa Ball, Critical Care Paramedic
The HELi2 Appeal raised £2.85million towards the purchase of a second lifesaving AW169 helicopter.
Owning a second highly advanced aircraft means that the crew can attend more of their missions by air, across our 19-hour-a-day, 365 day a year service.
Helicopters are highly complex machines, whenever one is undergoing maintenance we will have a another ready and available to respond to emergency missions (whenever the Cornish weather allows).
This will boost our resilience, capability and versatility, meaning we can provide the very best critical service to almost every patient who needs us.
Ultimately, owning a second AW169 helicopter means we can save even more lives, for years to come.
£0 a year comes from the government for our services. We rely on your generosity to keep your helicopter in the air.
Why do we need to buy a second helicopter?
Since the arrival of our first AW169 in 2020, we’ve been tasked to over 3,000 missions. That’s 3,000 families who we have been able to help when they needed us the most. We want to be able to help even more people. Our crew explain in more detail.
FAQs
Why do we need a second helicopter?
We want to provide the very best possible service to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and are constantly looking at ways to advance our care. We want to guarantee that the best possible helicopter is available at all times, when weather allows. A second helicopter will provide resilience to our service, in providing aircraft availability for seven days a week, 365 days a year. When one AW169 is undergoing maintenance, the other will be available. Should one develop a fault, we can instantly change to the other aircraft, rather than going offline. This will help to bolster our clinical provision.
How many additional missions will we undertake?
We estimate that owning a second AW169 will enable us to attend hundreds of additional missions by air over many years to come, helping to save many more lives across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Will we operate both helicopters simultaneously?
Owning two aircraft gives is the versatility to operate a two-helicopter service, should the need be there.
How much will the second helicopter cost?
The cost of a new AW169 is around £9.7million. We are fortunate enough to be in a strong position to purchase one, due to the generosity of our donors. We are appealing to the incredibly generous people of Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, and beyond, to help us raise the remaining £2.85million needed to purchase the new aircraft.
Will the two helicopters fly equal hours?
Yes, we will regularly swap between the two helicopters, to help limit wear and tear on each aircraft.
What are the capabilities of the AW169?
The AW169 is a state-of-the-art aircraft and among the best in the sector for the service we provide. It has a spacious cabin, providing the paramedics and doctors with 360-degree access to the patient. It carries more weight and more fuel, allowing for longer journeys or back-to-back missions. It is able to fly in the hours of darkness and has some of the most advanced navigation capabilities in the industry, and it has a sophisticated avionics suite, making it very safe and very capable. The new helicopter will also have an in-built weather radar, enhanced lighting on the tail and a camera on the underbelly of the aircraft. These upgrades will then be made retrospectively to our first AW169 aircraft, G-CRWL.
What does the HELi2 Appeal mean for the size of the charity and staff?
We are always looking to provide the very best service for the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and to further grow and develop the charity where possible. We are currently considering recruiting several further permanent roles to help us deliver on our mission saving more lives across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
T&C’s: Any donations we receive will be allocated towards either our HELi2 Appeal target or our annual running costs.
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