Ibstock donate bricks to Midlands Air Ambulance

Brick donation facilitates construction of air ambulance charity’s new headquarters facility

IBSTOCK Brick have donated thousands of bricks to Midlands Air Ambulance Charity to help facilitate the construction of its new airbase and headquarters facility near Cosford, on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border.

The donation, which amounts to a third of the total amount of bricks needed to build the new facility, includes 30,000 Cooksbridge Yellow Clamp Stock clay bricks manufactured at Ibstock’s factory in Chailey, East Sussex.

Four years in the planning, the charity’s new airbase and headquarters facility will complement its existing air ambulance-led service across six Midlands counties to help some of the region’s most critically ill and injured patients.

Designed to future-proof the advanced pre-hospital emergency service, the headquarters will include a new environment for crew and charity staff, including main offices, warehousing and storage, and space for two aircraft and critical care cars, to allow the charity to expand its service in the future. As a recognized ‘Centre of Clinical Excellence’ for pre-hospital emergency medicine, it will also help develop clinical skills and talent.

The improved facilities, combined with its optimum location, will enable rapid despatch and coverage for quicker response times, whilst its research and development space will increase clinical research and facilitate innovation in the years ahead.

Martin Runc (right of photo), national contract sales manager at Ibstock Brick, said: ‘There couldn’t be a more worthy beneficiary than a charity that provides lifesaving care. It was great to visit the construction site to see first-hand the difference our donation has made, and I’ll follow the progress with interest.’

Hanna Sebright (pictured), chief executive of Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, added: ‘We’ve used a proportion of our modest reserves to fund the new airbase. Therefore, the brick donation is greatly appreciated and means so much. Our sincere thanks go to the whole team at Ibstock Brick.’

More than 90% of funding for the new airbase and headquarters facility has been obtained via major grants from organizations such as the Department for Health and Social Care and the HELP Appeal. In addition, the charity is undertaking fundraising campaigns for specific areas of the new construction, including a clinical simulation training suite, memory garden and community education zone.

The new facility is expected to be completed during summer 2023.