A BASINGSTOKE business has announced a new one-year charity partnership with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA0.

Phoenix Group has a corporate responsibility aim of giving back o the community in which its colleagues are based, so the partnership will create opportunities for both parties.

HIOWAA was selected in line with the group’s existing corporate charity partnerships, namely Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and London’s Air Ambulance Charity, which have benefited from in excess of £730,000 in donations since partnership commencement in 2014. In addition the group has recently welcomed Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance for colleagues based in Edinburgh and Glasgow to support.

The company considered it important to implement a common fundraising theme and focus; working together to help fund valuable life-saving missions within the UK. Colleagues will now join forces to support their local community air ambulance, by fundraising in a range of ways, offering their support through skills-based volunteering or by simply raising awareness of the charities’ work.

HIOWAA delivers an advanced critical care team to sick and injured people in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Available both day and night, 365 days a year, they attend on average six missions a day. Their crew can reach anywhere in Hampshire within 15 minutes and Isle of Wight within 20 minutes. In August 2018, the charity reached a milestone with its 8,000th mission in its 11 years of service.

Clive Bannister, group chief executive at Phoenix Group said: “My colleagues within the Basingstoke office join me in welcoming this new partner, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance; and together we look forward to kick-starting our fundraising and awareness campaign, so we can continue to support the vital work they do.”

Alex Lochrane, chief executive of HIOWAA, added: “We are entirely dependent upon the generosity and dedication of our local community to raise the £15,000 a day that we need to keep our life-saving service operational. The support of local businesses such as Phoenix Group allows us to be there for those who need us in their hour of need; to bring the skills of the emergency department to the scene of an incident, 365 days a year. We owe them our heartfelt thanks.”