Freemasons pledge £3m to London Air Ambulance appeal

The London Air Ambulance charity is making largest ever appeal, 'Up Against Time', to raise £15 million by autumn 2024 to replace its helicopter fleet.

With its existing aircraft becoming harder to maintain, the charity needs to buy and deploy two new Airbus H-135s and the Freemasons’ pledge - the single largest donation - will cover a fifth of the cost.

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When patients are so seriously injured there is no time to reach hospital, London’s Air Ambulance medics give life-saving treatment at the scene, attending nearly 2,000 incidents last year.

The charity receives 96% of its income from public support - and the Freemasons have supported it for eight years, enabling the air ambulance to be there for approximately 11,000 Londoners since 2016.

Their past support helped the charity buy the second of its two helicopters and update its fleet of rapid response cars.

Sir Michael Snyder, leader of London Freemasons, said: "London’s Air Ambulance Charity is absolutely vital, bringing emergency medical experts to the roadside in rapid time and saving lives every day across London."

The London Freemason's have made a £3m pledge to the London Air Ambulance's Up Against Time fundraising appeal (Image: LAA)

He added: "London’s Air Ambulance Charity is one of those organisations where volunteers, experts and paid staff come together to make a genuinely life-changing difference to our city and I am proud to continue to support such a cause.”

Jonathan Jenkins, CEO, London’s Air Ambulance Charity said: “As a charity, we rely almost entirely on donations, so when we launched the fundraising campaign for our two new helicopters we were under no illusion as to the scale of the challenge.

"We’ve been blown away by the levels of support from communities across London but we knew that a large-scale cornerstone donation would be vital to help reach our £15 million target.

"The London Freemasons have been a hugely supportive and valued partner over the years and for them to accelerate our fundraising with such a large cornerstone amount is nothing short of transformational.

"On behalf of the whole charity, I would like to pass on my gratitude and appreciation to everyone involved in making this happen.”