Rising fuel costs hit London's air ambulance

"As a charity we rely on donations, we use those donations to fund various projects and obviously at the current moment we're having to use that to actually fund the fuel."

"The London Air Ambulance charity said it had seen a 116% increase in average fuel prices from 89p a litre in February to 1.93 in April. Sherriff said the air ambulance used 250l of fuel every hour of flight, which he described as "a large amount". He said the cost had become "significant"."

"We've got 800 organisations on our wait list - can we afford to take any of those on when our fuel costs are going up,?"

"Other charities have told the BBC that the rising costs of fuel is affecting their ability to function normally. Rachel Ledwith, from The Felix Project, a charity which distributes food in the capital, said the team were facing "difficult choices"."

London’s Air Ambulance charity is facing financial strain because fuel costs have doubled amid the Middle East conflict. The charity relies on donations to fund projects, but is using donations to cover rising fuel expenses. A pilot warned that without a resolution, new funding may be required and hoped the service would not be reduced. Motorists have also seen steep fuel price increases, with typical family car costs rising for petrol and diesel. The charity reported a 116% increase in average fuel prices from February to April and said the air ambulance uses about 250 litres of fuel per hour. Other charities reported similar impacts, including difficult choices about expanding services and increased fuel costs for blood bike operations.

Read at www.bbc.com