The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) was established as a charity in 2002 and provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Isle of Man. This covers from the Scottish borders, down to South Cumbria, and across to North Yorkshire.

They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.

The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.

The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.

GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region. The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.

Some of their recent achievements include delivering blood transfusions to over 750 patients, organising large-scale simulation exercises with the military and local emergency services, and having one of their paramedics, Hollie Murphy, win the North East Chamber of Commerce’s Inspiring Female Award.

On average, the charity respond to six call-outs per day to people in the community in their darkest hour. In the financial year 2023/2024 they responded to 2,148 call-outs.

They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £9.3m a year through public donations to remain operational. This equates to raising £25,200 every day.