On 2nd March, 2022, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal officially unveiled the new helipad at Oxford Road Campus (ORC), Manchester.
The helipad, the first of its kind in the North West, enables critically ill patients to be airlifted straight to the Trust’s hospitals in Manchester city centre and has been used by the Air Ambulance over 70 times since opening in May 2021. This allows patients to be seen within minutes by trauma specialists which can be vital to help save lives and improve outcomes during time critical situations.
The Manchester helipad project was supported by a fundraising campaign called ‘Time Saves Lives’ that saw organisations and individuals come together to raise the required funding for the helipad in just 12 months.
This included a £1.36million donation from the County Air Ambulance HELP (Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads) Appeal, which funds helipads across the country.
Wills & Legal Services have been a key partner of County Air Ambulance for nearly a decade and we’re proud to have raised over £2,000,000 from our free Wills campaign. 100% of the money raised has gone directly to charities, supporting fantastic causes up and down the country.
Kathy Cowell, Chairman of MFT, said of the recent opening:
“We were delighted to welcome Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal to officially unveil our life saving helipad here in Manchester.
“The helipad has made a tremendous difference to how quickly our trauma teams can respond to emergencies which can be the difference between life and death.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of everyone who helped with our fundraising appeal and I would like to thank them all for their hard work. “
Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal said:
“For many people helipads are lifesavers too, along with hospitals and air ambulances. Her Royal Highness’ visit to another HELP Appeal funded helipad is hugely significant as it helps to highlight their vital role in emergency care because of their ability to help save time, which saves many lives.”