Yorkshire Building Society has continued its longstanding support of the region’s air ambulance service with a donation to support the carrying of inflight blood supplies.
The YBS Charitable Foundation has donated £2,000 towards the cost of three specially designed, thermostatically controlled boxes for the safe transport and storage of the blood on board Yorkshire Air Ambulance’s two helicopters.
The life-saving emergency service has been carrying blood since 2017 allowing the specially trained, YAA medical teams to start the transfusion process at the scene of an incident instead of waiting until the patient gets to hospital.
The Credo Cube cool storage boxes are specially insulated to maintain the blood within a narrow temperature range of 2- 60C for up to 72 hours to prevent damage or spoilage.
Eighteen storage boxes are constantly in circulation across both Yorkshire Air Ambulance airbases, and the YBS grant has enabled the charity to buy three replacement boxes to ensure efficient turn-around and continuity of services.
Marianne Haworth, Grants and Trusts Manager at Yorkshire Air Ambulance, said: “We would like to say a big thank you to the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation for their very generous grant of £2,000 towards our blood transportation boxes which ensure blood is immediately ready for critically ill patients in situations where every minute counts.”
Serving a population of approximately five million people across Yorkshire’s four million acres, YAA operates two air ambulances from airbases at The Nostell Priory Estate near Wakefield and RAF Topcliffe near Thirsk, plus two Rapid Response Vehicles.
The service needs to raise £19,000 every day to keep its two helicopters flying.
YBS is a longstanding supporter of Yorkshire Air Ambulance having donated more than £2 million to the life-saving charity since 2008.
The latest donation from the Society’s Charitable Foundation was made after a nomination from Compliance Associate Kath Crank, who said: “We are so proud to support Yorkshire Air Ambulance with a donation from Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation. The work they do, providing rapid response emergency services, delivers an essential service to the region.”
Photo: Representatives from Yorkshire Building Society’s Charitable Foundation present a cheque to YAA Grants Manager, Marianne Howarth, and YAA Community Fundraiser Angela Vyas.