Patrick and Sarah Saunders of Black Shuck Gin : Image Courtesy of EAAA
The small team at Black Shuck Gin, based in Fakenham, continue to amaze EAAA with their generosity and kindness.
As well as supporting the charity with a limited edition gin this year and other various fundraising activities, they have spent their time during the lockdown tirelessly working with government authorities to produce a very much needed Alcohol Based Hand Sanitiser.
This has been donated to regional air ambulances, care homes, schools and key workers to help save lives during the pandemic. Black Shuck Gin have made a huge impact on EAAA and on the wider community.
Patrick and Sarah Saunders of Black Shuck Gin said: "We were thrilled, honoured and proud to hear that we had won the Most Inspirational Business Category in the East Anglian Air Ambulance Inspiration Awards. All of the nominees were outstanding and we thoroughly enjoyed reading all of their stories."
Phillipa Levy, Special Events Fundraiser at EAAA, said: “All of our supporters are a constant reminder of the fantastic community that we serve and are a true inspiration to us, as without them, our service couldn't continue. The EAAA Inspiration Awards allow us to give something back to that community and share their incredibly heart-warming stories. Black Shuck Gin have supported us in numerous ways over the years and are very worthy winners of this award, which was decided by a public vote.”
Nominations are put forward by EAAA staff and recognise those who have inspired the EAAA team in different ways, with nine different award categories (Inspirational Business, Donor, Events Fundraiser, Fundraising Team, Group or Club, Patient or Patient’s family, Crew Member, Lifesaver, Volunteer and the Special CEO Award). Four of the award winners were decided by a public vote, including this award for Inspirational Business.
For more information, go to www.eaaa.org.uk
Black Shuck Gin delivering hand sanitiser to EAAA.
20 years ago on 9 February, East Anglian Air Ambulance flew its very first official mission, to help someone in Norfolk in a serious condition.
At this point, the charity, which was set up a few months earlier, in September 2000, only had enough funds to fly once a week, and did so on a Friday.
The helicopter was a black Bolkow 105, built in 1977, and was also used as a police helicopter. The crew was a single pilot and two paramedics, different to the double pilot and doctor and critical care paramedic teams who operate today.
Records show the first flight was at 16:00pm on Friday 9 February, with a total flight time of 25 mins, covering the flight to the incident scene and back again. The crew were back on base by 16:55pm, which indicates that on the very first mission the patient was not transferred to hospital in the air ambulance, but help was provided on-scene.
East Anglian Air Ambulance is sharing a story about a one-year-old child who suffered serious burns whilst on holiday in Norfolk, to raise awareness for the charity and its Virtual Gifts Chrsitmas appeal.
In July, the Day family, from North London, were enjoying a summer break at Fritton Lake, near Great Yarmouth. Dad Chris, mum Bailyn and one-year-old Charlie were getting ready to leave the lodge, packing up for the trip ahead. Unfortunately, as lunch was being prepared, Charlie excitedly burst into the kitchen. Within seconds, he had reached up onto the kitchen counter and pulled a pan of boiling hot water all over his chest, torso and face, causing him to scream out instantly in incredible pain.
Charlie’s parents rushed him into the shower to try and cool the burns down as quickly as possible and dialled 999. An ambulance was dispatched whilst Charlie’s family tried to follow the advice of the call handler, but his condition wasn’t getting any better and the situation was escalating quickly. Recognising that Charlie would most likely need specialist treatment, the Anglia One team from Norwich was also dispatched.
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) has revealed that despite a challenging year, plans to start flying 24/7 from its new Norwich headquarters are on track for 2021.
This week, the charity’s Chief Executive Patrick Peal visited the site of EAAA’s new 24/7 base at Norwich Airport to mark the end of exterior building works, which have been delayed by 16 weeks due to the pandemic.
The £7 million base project was started in January of this year and was originally planned to be finished by the end of 2020. The new base is a key development in enabling the charity to start flying 24/7, from a state of the art purpose-built facility, with improved rest and welfare facilities for the crew.
The funds for the base were ringfenced from years of generous gifts in Wills and committed before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
20 years ago, on 6 September 2000, a new charity was formed to help save lives across East Anglia: the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA). Operating initially just one day a week, on a Friday from Norwich Airport, with one paramedic, this was the start of an important lifeline for many local people.
Monday, the start of National Air Ambulance Week, EAAA can reveal that over the last 20 years it has flown almost 30,000 missions and helped almost 20,000 patients, all thanks to the generosity of local people.
At a time of so much uncertainty, the charity, which needs to raise £13 million a year to develop and deliver its service, and is aiming to start flying 24/7 for the first time next year, is deeply grateful for the public support which has enable it to pass this milestone.
Together We Run is a new fundraising challenge from East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) which is encouraging local people to pledge their miles towards a collective 2,000 mile target.
EAAA normally organises several mass participation challenge events throughout the year, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to help keep its yellow helicopters flying and saving lives. These events cannot go ahead this year, so the charity is asking its supporters to take part in Together We Run instead, a virtual fundraising challenge from 14 – 20 September, to run (or walk) a combined 2,000 miles, wherever and whenever suits them.
If successful, this virtual running event could become a regular addition to the charity’s event calendar, along with its Only the Brave muddy obstacle run and Trek 24 walking challenges.