Lincolnshire air ambulance Crew flies out of new charity headquarters for first time

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The critical care team was tasked just after 10am, as they were called to a road traffic collision on the East Coast of Lincolnshire.

Clinical Director Doctor Gareth Davies said: “The first mission from our new headquarters was an historic landmark for our service.

“We are delighted to see our crews now operational from this new facility, which will allow us to continue providing the best clinical care for the people of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and beyond.”

The medical teams, helicopter and Critical Care Cars have now relocated to the new premises, with the rest of the LNAA team joining them later in June.

The facility will bring charity staff and crew together under one roof for the first time in the charity’s 27-year-history, while providing a unique opportunity for visitors, former patients, volunteers and benefactors to visit the Charity and support their fundraising efforts.

The new purpose-built airbase, which was completed last month, features a purpose-built hangar with space to enable on-site engineering, a bespoke helipad equipped with state-of-the-art landing lights, and enhanced training facilities for crew members.

To support the funding of their new home, the Charity received a capital grant of £1.82million from the Department of Health and Social Care.

The air ambulance is now at ts new headquarters EMN-211105-152937001

Karen Jobling, Chief Executive Officer at LNAA, said: “LNAA has come a long way since its beginnings and today is such an exciting and important time stamp in the Charity’s history.

“Seeing the crew and the helicopter every day will be inspiring to everyone here; a wonderful reminder of why we all do what we do.”

Karen continued: “This new home is integral to our journey for clinical independence, with better facilities for our air operations and training.

“We don’t underestimate just how important it is to us all that we are now under one roof, enabling us to work more closely together and raise the funds we need to enable our clinicians to respond in an emergency.”

RAF Waddington's Station Commander, Gp Capt Kilvington visited the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance as they made their final flight from RAF Waddington. The short flight across the A15 sees the Air Ambulance crew move to their new building and hangar. EMN-211105-152916001

The new headquarters is situated just 200m from RAF Waddington which has been home to LNAA’s helicopter since 1994.

The Station Commander at RAF Waddington, Group Captain Stephen Kilvington, said: “It’s quite a sad day for us here at RAF Waddington.

“The Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance has been associated with our station for 27 years, where they have been providing a fantastic service to Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the wider community.

“While we are sad that they are leaving the station, we know that this new facility will help them to provide that service to an even better level.

Air Ambulance headquarters EMN-211105-152927001

“They will continue to be our neighbours and we’re looking forward to continuing that working relationship with them.”

Karen added: “We’re incredibly grateful to everyone at RAF Waddington for allowing us to use their base as our home for the last 27 years.

“Our very close proximity means that we can continue to build on our close relationship with military personnel and the RAF station overall.”

• LNAA receives no direct Government funding for its day-to-day missions.

Without the generous donations from members of communities, the crew cannot save lives.

To find out more about the charity’s life-saving work, visit www.ambucopter.org.uk