Big Yellow Supports London Air Ambulance

As anyone familiar with the congested roads of England’s capital will testify, places to park in the city are at a premium – both in terms of scarcity and cost.

And while the advanced trauma teams of London’s Air Ambulance do not need a dedicated spot to ‘land’ to deliver their life-saving services, the fundraisers helping to keep them airborne are delighted to have use of a gratis, centrally located space to call their own. 

For the last five years, the charity has been afforded “free parking” at Big Yellow Wapping, which it uses to store its marketing equipment and branded merchandise ahead of the calendar of community events that drive donations to fuel its flights. 

“We approached Big Yellow with a view to a purely commercial partnership, but they offered to support the work of London’s Air Ambulance Charity by providing the storage space for free,” explained the charity’s media and public affairs manager Andy Frain. 

“This support has given us a lot of security and flexibility and is particularly useful when you have as many model helicopters as we do! As a community charity we end up having a lot of materials to store and knowing we have Big Yellow’s support has given us a reliable base to build on in that respect.”

Andy added that having a home close to the heart of the city proves extremely valuable when it comes to championing those who lace up their running shoes each year on behalf of London’s Air Ambulance Charity.

“Big Yellow Wapping is a huge part of one of our biggest fundraising days of the year – the London Marathon,” he said. “Our ‘cheer spot’ for our runners is just next to the store, so we’ve got easy access to all of our banners and support materials.” 

The money raised by such flagship events plays a crucial part in ensuring helicopter rotors can continue to spin and preserving the wellbeing of those served by London’s Air Ambulance – the 10 million people who live, work and travel within the M25. 

The service is on-call around the clock, using a helicopter from 8am to sunset and rapid response cars at night or in adverse weather conditions to bring life-saving medics and equipment to the scene. 

Crews, consisting of an advanced trauma doctor, paramedic and – on most missions – consultant, can perform treatments such as open-heart surgery, blood transfusions and general anaesthetic by the roadside.

These specialist teams provide medical intervention as quickly as possible after injury, with the aim of giving those in need the best chance of survival, and best quality of life, after trauma.

In 2021 alone, the charity – which has The Duke of Cambridge as its patron – treated 1,713 patients across London; with the most common incidents attended including road traffic collisions, stabbings and shootings, falls from height and incidents on the rail network.

Commending Big Yellow’s contribution to this effort, Andy concluded: “Thank you for your support over the years – it has been invaluable to our community work.”