THE air ambulance – which has made nine life-saving helicopter visits to Maldon so far this year – has been given an urgent injection of £140,000 government cash following a £0.5million shortfall in expected donations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT), which also sends out teams in rapid response cars to provide vital medical help, is to receive the money as part of an emergency £6million awarded to Air Ambulances UK for 21 local air ambulance charities.

Now the charity is reaching out to the community for support to keep the air ambulance flying.

The service has also faced unexpected costs due to the extra work caused by the virus outbreak. In April EHAAT announced that its critical care team based at the Earls Colne airbase would help transfer patients between local hospitals. The team based at North Weald continued to provide vital care to the people and communities of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas by helicopter and rapid response vehicle.

EHAAT staff were also part of the family liaison team at the temporary NHS London Nightingale Hospital, where they supported families affected by COVID-19 as well as carrying out their core EHAAT work.

Pam Withrington, fundraising and marketing director at EHAAT, said, "We are pleased to receive this money from the Government during these uncertain times. It follows a period in which our crews have continued to provide a 24/7 life-saving service to the critically ill and injured of Essex, Hertfordshire and surrounding areas and gone above and beyond to support their NHS colleagues.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on our fundraising this year, with events and initiatives being cancelled or postponed because of the lockdown. In order to make up for an expected shortfall in donations of around £500,000, it is vital that we continue to raise funds to support our life-saving service, and this money will really help us to cover unbudgeted COVID-19 costs."

To find out more about the charity's work and how you can support it, visit [L[https://www.ehaat.org[L+]the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance website[.L] or call 0345 2417 690.