A Visit to Wales Air Ambulance as part of #TeamBreconCarreg

As part of Team Brecon Carreg, my team mates and I were invited to the Wales Air Ambulance Base in Llanelli to find out more about what Wales Air Ambulance does.

Just to give a brief overview, Team Brecon Carreg is a running team, split into North and South Wales. Each team is made up of 10 members. As part of Team Brecon Carreg we’ve been entered into a number of races across Wales, and the best part is that for every mile the team runs in training and in events, Brecon Carreg will donate £1 to Wales Air Ambulance.

What is Wales Air Ambulance?

Wales Air Ambulance covers the whole of Wales every single day. Each year their helicopters attend around 2,500 missions, covering rural countryside, bustling towns and cities, along the Welsh coastline and across vast mountain ranges. Their four airbase operations in Caernarfon, Llanelli, Welshpool and Cardiff are ready to saves lives wherever needed. (Source)

As part of our visit we were lucky enough to see the helicopters close up, and even had the opportunity to watch as one took off on a mission.

Our visit to Wales Air Ambulance was very informative. I learnt so much about them and the vital work that they do.

Did you know Wales Air Ambulance is a charity?

As such they get no government funding. Each mission costs £1,500. That’s why it’s so important to help them raise money so that they can continue their life saving work.

Wales Air Ambulance covers the whole of Wales every day. Their four helicopters attended around 2,500 missions every year, and with four airbases they’re now in a better position than ever to cover every corner of Wales.

One of their specialist helicopters is their Children’s Wales Air Ambulance. It even has a state of the art incubator.

In 2017 the Children’s Wales Air Ambulance attended 332 missions. The average age of the patients just 5 years old.

As mentioned above Wales Air Ambulance is funded by the people of Wales. As such they rely entirely on the public’s support to help keep the helicopters flying. The charity does not receive direct funding from the government and they also fail to qualify for National Lottery funding.

Their helicopters are kept in the air through charitable donations, fundraising events and membership of their in-house Lifesaving Lottery.

Every year, Wales Air Ambulance needs to raise £6.5 million to operate the service. Find out how you can  help here.

You can also donate online via the Team Brecon Carreg fundraising page here.