This week we were lucky enough to enjoy a very special tour around the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT) Visitor Centre in North Weald. We met Volunteers, Paramedics, Doctors, Pilots and staff that were all so inspiring with many stories of saving lives.
This charity is so important and we are so glad that we have chosen to partner with them for the year as we also met Katie Lee and her friendly family, who had such an inspiring story. Katie was airlifted by EHAAT in 2019 following a horrific car accident on the M11 and she had a very emotional reunion with some of the crew that were involved in her care, Critical Care Paramedic Gaynor Wareham, who tasked our crew to that mission, and pilot Will Hordley who flew to the scene that day. We felt very privileged to be there to witness how much it meant to all.
During our visit we were shown two main rooms, one was an informative interactive space, in the middle of which was a life size model of the inside of one of the actual helicopters. We were shown a presentation which was a reconstruction of an event they may attend.
The second room was a high tech simulation space where the room could chage via projections onto the walls, fans to simulate wind and sound affects to make the space into a nightclub, football match, march, carnical, hospital or even shopping centre. They had night time effects and another space that could be simulated to be an ambulance. This type of interactive training, using state of the art models as the patients, gives a much more realistic approach to the real situations they may attend.
Afterwards, were thrilled to be amongst the winners of the ‘A Very British Afternoon Tea’ competition sponsored by The English Cream Tea Company Ltd, hosted by Jane Malyon. We enjoyed the most delicious scones with plenty of fresh cream and jam, luxurious brownies, lemon drizzle cake and cute perfecty baked teapot shaped biscuits! Such a treat!
We were presented with a large selection of great quality teas in individual, beautifully packaged boxes, all tied up with a large silky red ribbon! Thanks #EHAAT and Jane, the team are delighted to be refreshed by them!
We are looking forward to planning events and fund-raising drives, to raise as much as we can. The visitor centre is an amazing resource and fascinating to be shown around. Thank you for the gorgeous treats from Jane and our lovely prize a selection of teas for the office! Fundraising ideas are flowing, we’re looking forward to this year’s events!
Here’s a link to our Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/opra-group-ltd