Second charity instalment of £250,000 for Manchester helipad
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has received its second instalment of £250,000 from the HELP Appeal.
In the UK, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT Charity) has received its second instalment of £250,000, from the HELP Appeal’s total pledge of £1,000,000, for its new helipad, ahead of work set to begin this September.
The HELP Appeal, a charity that funds infrastructure for hospital helipads, has now donated half of the cost of a new 24-hour primary helicopter landing site that will serving the Hospital Trust’s one million patients from across the North West. The first of its kind in central Manchester, the new helipad will serve a number of the Trust’s hospital’s including Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Saint Mary’s Hospital, which are all based on the Trust’s central Manchester site. Located on the roof of a multi-storey car park, the new helipad will be connected to the hospitals by a high-level link bridge and roof-top corridor.
Work is now underway on the new helipad, with the site expected to be fully operational by Spring 2018.
Robert Bertram, chief executive of the HELP Appeal, said: “It is a pleasure to gift Central Manchester University Hospitals with its second instalment of £250,000 for its new lifesaving helipad. We look forward to handing over the final two cheques of our £1million pledge in the near future and to seeing the helipad operational next year.”
Sarah Naismith, head of charities at CMFT Charity, said: “It is this generous funding from the HELP Appeal that will provide patients with life-saving access to our specialist hospitals and trauma teams. The helipad will serve all three of our central based hospitals and will ensure patients in critical need receive the emergency and specialist treatment required. Without donations like this we would not be able to implement and begin work on a project like this so quickly.”