A grant of £4,000 to the Thames Valley Air Ambulance from Berkshire Freemasons has been added to the total masonic support of £2.4 million given to air ambulances across the country since 2007

Apart from this grant, which comes from the Masonic Charitable Foundation, The Berkshire Masonic Charity has contributed over £4,500 to help patients with breathing difficulties. These donations and many others bring the total contribution to Thames Valley Air Ambulance by Freemasons over the last few years to £132,000.

Thames Valley Air Ambulance operates across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire bringing advanced medical care to the most critically ill and injured patients. Between 1st October 2018 and 30th September 2019, the helicopter and Critical Care Response Vehicles responded to 2670 incidents in the region; 1013 of these were in Berkshire. They delivered advanced medical care to 1,667 patients.

Neil Harman, Director of Fundraising at Thames Valley Air Ambulance, said: 'We are very grateful to Berkshire Freemasons for their continuing generosity. Without support like this our teams of doctors, paramedics and pilots would not be able to continue delivering our life-saving work.'

Anthony Howlett-Bolton, Leader of Berkshire Freemasons, said: 'We are proud to be able to support the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the crew, many lives of local people are saved every year.'

Buckinghamshire Freemasons have presented Thames Valley Air Ambulance with a grant of £4,000

Thames Valley Air Ambulance provides emergency medical care 365 days a year, up to 19 hours per day, for around two million people who live, work and travel in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Their paramedics, doctors and pilots are highly trained and ready for any eventuality, delivering advanced care by road as well as by air, night and day, all year round.

Since opening in 1999, Thames Valley Air Ambulance has evolved from being a fast method of transporting patients to hospitals, to the current model of care which brings hospital level treatment to the scene of an incident. Equipped with the iconic red helicopter, four critical care response vehicles, specialist doctors, paramedics and pilots, cutting-edge technology and advanced medication, they are at the frontline of saving lives.

The grant, which was donated by the Masonic Charitable Foundation, will go towards funding the service, enabling their helicopter and critical care response vehicles to reach more people across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. They provide advanced training for their paramedics and doctors, using specialist equipment such as a state-of-the-art simulation suite and real-life manikins.

The simulation suite enables the crews to practice treating patients in a variety of different emergency scenarios, replicating the conditions they would find in real life including noise, weather and smells.

Hugh Douglas-Smith, Buckinghamshire’s Deputy Provincial Deputy Grand Master, Phil Blacklaw, Assistant Grand Master, Andrew Hough, MCF Representative, and Mike Clanfield, Provincial Charity Steward, attended the Air Ambulance office based in Stokenchurch. Adam Panter, Director of Operations, then gave them an insightful demonstration of the simulation suite, explaining how the service works and who they help.