Bus staff pick Air Ambulance as charity of year

The airborne lifesaving charity is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2024 and came top by some distance in a staff vote for the charity hundreds of trentbarton team members would most like to fundraise for.

The shortlist of ten charities for staff to choose from was compiled from suggestions by customers who could nominate their favourite good causes via social media.

Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance responded to 1,771 missions in 2023, its busiest year on record. The charity’s crews of pilots, doctors and paramedics fly critically ill and injured patients to hospitals and provide a range of life-saving treatments including blood transfusions, anaesthetics and life-saving drugs.

In Nottinghamshire the charity, which receives no funding from the NHS or the Government, also operates a critical care car to bring doctors and paramedics to the scene of incidents.

Trentbarton’s marketing and communications manager Scarlet​​​​ McCourt said: “It's great to be raising these vital funds for Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance once again, having originally worked together in 2015 as charity partners.”

Scarlet​​​​, who is also the company’s Heanor Office charity champion, added: “We're so happy to see them receiving so many votes this time round from both our customers and team and we can't wait to get going.”

Money will be raised for the charity through staff events and trentbarton’s Namesake programme where people can donate to have a bus named after a loved one. Upcoming events include a silent auction and a raffle.

Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance’s Corporate Partnerships Manager Joe Harper said: “Thank you so much to all the customers of trentbarton for nominating us as Charity of the Year.

“In 2023, our crews responded to 542 missions in Nottinghamshire and this partnership will help support our vital work, ensuring that our crews will be by the side of even more patients, providing life-saving treatments to some of the most critically ill and injured people in Nottinghamshire and beyond.”

trentbarton recently presented £6,000 to Alzheimer’s Research UK at the conclusion of its time as the staff charity of the year.