The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust Charitable Funds

The Charity is a separate legal entity from EEAST, with the Trust being the corporate trustee for the charity. The charity exists as a result of donations, support from fundraising activities, legacy giving, and opportunities from grant programmes. The work of the charity enhances that of the Trust and is intended to be beyond that ordinarily afforded by the NHS.

Some of the 2021-22 highlights include:

• The charity was awarded grants from NHS Charities Together totalling £123.5k for the specific purpose of enhancing the wellbeing of colleagues, volunteers and communities affected by COVID-19. During 2021-22, these funds helped support several initiatives across the Trust including the distribution of over 120 benches across 80 sites to encourage the use of outside space. In addition, the charity opened a number of wellbeing gardens to provide colleagues with an area for relaxation, reflection and respite.
• In November 2021, the charity was successful in securing £508.7k grant funding from NHS Charities Together for the Ambulance Grant in recognition of the vital work that ambulance charities do to support the work of the NHS. The grant funds falls equipment for eighteen targeted community first responder groups, to provide initial falls training and on-going annual recertification training to volunteers to increase community resilience across the east of England. The funds also support ten new CFR roving cars, all fully equipped with falls and CFR response kit and fully trained falls volunteers, to provide a mobile resource within communities to attend patients in a much wider geographic area.
• Funds were allocated to the replacement of 18 Automated External Defibrillators (AED) cabinets at main line railway stations across the east of England, with an upgraded polycarbonate cabinet. These new cabinets are more robust, vandal proof and the integrated heater will protect the AED from frost to ensures the AED remains rescue ready at all times.
• The charity supported a vitamin D wellbeing research project to sample a cross section of EEAST colleagues working throughout the Trust, to identify those with or at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Evidence obtained from the trial will ensure guidance will be offered to correct any deficiency in participating colleagues, and the findings will be used to inform the development of wellbeing resources to improve vitamin D awareness across the Trust.