HELP Appeal visits King’s College Hospital helipad

As one of the HELP Appeal’s Trustees, The Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire joined the Vice-presidents, and Chief Executive at King’s College Hospital this week to see the impact its helipad was making in trauma care, after the charity donated £2.75 million to help build the helipad in 2016. In addition to meeting Prof. Clive Kay, Chief Executive of King’s College Hospital and Rob Bentley, Clinical Director, South East London Kent and Medway Major Trauma Network, they also witnessed Air Ambulance Kent Surrey and Sussex landing on the helipad.

Before the helipad was built, helicopters had to land in a nearby park and patients were then transferred by road to the hospital, which could take up to 25 minutes.

Since 2009, the HELP Appeal has been providing significant grants to fund life-saving helipads at Major Trauma Centres and key A&E Hospitals around England and Scotland.

Every flight, every landing, every life, depends entirely on the financial generosity of individuals, organisations, businesses, clubs, schools and local communities. As we don’t receive one single penny in Government or National Lottery funding, charitable donations are our lifeblood without which we would not exist and helipads might not be built or upgraded.

The HELP Appeal is run by the County Air Ambulance Trust and is the only charity in the country funding helipads nationally.