The paramedics include Ben Caine from Sheringham, Andrew Downes from Thorpe Marriott, Neil Flowers from Alderton, near Woodbridge, Jemma Varela from Stradbroke and Gary Steward, from Cromer.    

 The control room
Missions are controlled from the main NHS Ambulance Trust’s HQ. Here a team of trained operators will assess every emergency call against a pre-determined set of criteria to establish whether a helicopter should be called out. 

The charity

Our service is funded largely by charity and a team of fundraisers work hard to ensure enough money comes in to allow us to fly two aircraft, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  We have fundraising staff in each of the four counties we serve backed up by a small team at head office who include the lottery staff.  To find out about the fundraising office for your area please visit our contacts page

The service began flying in January 2001 and in the early days the service was only able to operate one day a week, but within five months Anglia One was flying five days a week.

Now the helicopters and crews are on stand-by for 365 days a year and can reach almost anywhere in the region within 20 minutes and often quicker. Operating during daylight hours, Anglia One begins and ends its day at Norwich airport. During the day, Anglia One may relocate, if necessary, to RAF Honington, covering the east of the region (Norfolk and Suffolk).

Anglia Two is housed at Cambridge Airport. It covers the west of the region (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough).

Your support

Although the air ambulance serves the NHS and works with its paramedics it receives no direct government funding.  Funding for the two helicopters is entirely dependant on the goodwill of the people and businesses of our region.

Research carried out by the EAAA has shown that the people of East Anglia are more disposed to support their air ambulance than any other region in the country.  

The service requires a minimum of £250,000 per month to keep two helicopters flying. A vast sum of money that comes in through a number of fund-raising schemes such as:

• The EAAA lottery
• Donations
• A charity shop in Ipswich
• Pay as you earn schemes in the workplace (call 01603 269320)
• Public fundraising activities such as coffee-mornings, dances, pub quizzes (call 0845 066 9999) or for more ideas have a look at our Events Diary
• Legacies and In Memoriams
• Corporate sponsorship programmes (call 01603 269320)