East Anglian Air Ambulance thanks public for generosity during the pandemic
The charity marked 20 years since first taking flight this week
Last updated 15th Feb 2021
The public has been thanked for their generosity in supporting the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) throughout the pandemic.
Like all charities, its normal fundraising events were ground to a halt due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, but people have continued to help through challenges of their own.
It's meant EAAA hasn't had to use its reserves as much as it was expecting, as Chief Executive Patrick Peal explained: "20 years ago, the trustees then said we should always make sure we have at least a year's operating costs in reserve to tide us over for a rainy day.
"Arguably we haven't just had a rainy day, we've had an absolute tsunami.
"The generosity of the community, the way that they've rallied round has been absolutely fabulous. We haven't had as much of a hit to our reserves as we feared me might."
While the impact to the charity's reserve haven't been as great as expected, it will still record a loss this year and the reserves will need to be rebuilt "for the next few years".
As lockdown continues, EAAA is asking people to continue following the restrictions by staying at home and maintain social distancing when leaving for essential purposes.