People's Postcode Lottery Heroes Trust Award flies in six-figure support for air ambulance charity

Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance’s (SCAA) expansion of its life-saving service has been given a £300,000 boost, thanks to a Heroes Trust Award from People's Postcode Lottery.

The award is to be split equally to support both the charity's existing air ambulance service based at Perth Airport and its planned second helicopter resource to be launched at Aberdeen within the next 12 months.

SCAA Chief executive David Craig said the award would prove a lifesaver.

"People's Postcode Lottery players throughout Scotland are now helping SCAA save lives," he said.

"We're so grateful that People's Postcode Lottery recognises the vital work SCAA does throughout the whole of Scotland and has granted us this amazing Heroes Trust Award to support both our existing and future operations," he said.

"This support will help SCAA build an expanded life-saving service serving people in most need through illness or injury across the whole of Scotland.

SCAA is Scotland's only charity-funded emergency air ambulance service and has proved an integral and vital part of the emergency response network since its launch in 2013.

To date, the life-saving crew has responded to more than 2,050 time-critical emergencies in every corner of the country.

The Heroes Trust Award will fund life-saving onboard equipment for the existing helicopter - callsign Helimed 76 - including an extreme weather care package featuring a shelter to protect both patients and crew, heat pads and Alpine thermal blankets.

The £150,000 dedicated to the proposed Helimed 79 operation at Aberdeen will help recruit and initially fund a new crew to take forward the north east-based operation.

Hazel Johnstone, from the charities team at People's Postcode Lottery, said: “We are so pleased that this funding will help support life-saving missions across rural Scotland. The team at Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance are heroes and it’s fitting that they will be receiving an award from Postcode Heroes Trust.”

People's Postcode Lottery has raised more than £416 million for thousands of good causes across Britain and beyond since it started in 2005.