Save Time | Save Lives
This year our Charity of the Year is Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, as voted for by Red Funnel customers, the wider Island community and our colleagues.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance brings the hospital to the patient. It's highly skilled teams of doctors, dispatchers, pilots and paramedics respond to an average of seven patients every day - be it a cardiac arrest, a road traffic collision or a serious medical episode.
The charity has responded to almost 2,500 emergency callouts in 2024 alone - more than 20,000 in its 17-year history.
HIOWAA Assets
The Helicopter
The air ambulance can be airborne within four minutes of the call - ready to bring the hospital to your side.
The Vehicles
As well as the helicopter, you may see the crews driving in one of the emergency response vehicles.
Operation Airbase Appeal
This year, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is embarking on its biggest fundraising mission to date with plans to relocate it airbase to a more central part of the community.
The charity is fundraising for £3.6 million to kit and equip the new airbase near Southampton Airport. The move will improve response times for patients across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, putting the teams within a 10-minute flight time from take-off to almost every patient in the region.
How to help
You can add a donation to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance when making an online booking with us. Just simply select an amount at check-out.
Alternatively, you can make a one-off donation or set up a monthly donations via the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance website.
Meet HIOWAA
Taking their first flight in 2007, HIOWAA provide a lifeline for critically ill and injured patients across the Isle of Wight and Hampshire. Responding to over 20k emergencies to date, the air ambulance critical care team fly with specialist paramedics and doctors and are able to perform lifesaving treatments whenever and where ever incidents occur across the region. Find out more about the lifesaving service they provide.
How many incidents per year do you attend?
2024 was the busiest year on record for the air ambulance. Our highly skilled doctors, dispatchers, pilots and paramedics were deployed to a total of 2,544 emergencies – an increase of almost 40% on the year before. Our missions to the Isle of Wight alone increased by 10%.
How many per day is that on average?
Seven. One of those patients was David from Niton, who was trampled by cows last summer while walking his dogs. He said, “The HIOWAA is invaluable for people like us in the remote tip of the Isle of Wight. To have that quick and skilled response – it’s what saved me. Had it not been for them, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”
How does the HIOWAA differ from a road ambulance?
Our highly trained crew provide advanced critical care not available to road ambulance paramedics – they can perform open chest surgery, carry out a life-saving amputation or perform a pre-hospital emergency anaesthetic (used to manage a patient’s breathing). We bring hospital level care to the patient’s side and provide rapid transport for patients needing specialist care from mainland hospitals.
Who is on the HIOWAA team?
Our doctors, dispatchers, pilots and paramedics treat patients 365 days a year and are supported by a team of charity staff and an army of volunteers. HIOWAA also regularly hold and attend events and deliver free CPR sessions and educational presentations to schools, community groups and businesses across the region. You too can join our volunteer team and become a vital part of our life-saving operation.
What is ‘Operation Airbase’?
Operation Airbase is the biggest transformational leap in the charity’s history. Our plans to relocate our airbase and headquarters nearer to Southampton Airport puts us within a 10-minute flight time from take-off to almost every patient across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – compared to a current time of 20 minutes.
Why are donations from the public so important?
We are a charity and rely entirely on the public to keep us flying and saving lives. Every penny raised goes towards helpings us bring cutting edge critical care to patients who need us most – giving them the best chance of making it home to their friends and family.
What does it mean to be voted as Red Funnel’s Charity of the Year 2025 - and for a second time?
We’re incredibly grateful to the many people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight who recognise the lifeline our service provides. We’ve got exciting plans for Island residents in the pipeline. Thank you to all the Red Funnel staff and customers who have voted for their local air ambulance.