Our Operations Director discusses debunks one of the misunderstandings about our service.
Operations Director, Tania Martin, speaks about why our new campaign is the most urgent in our history.
Keep Us Flying raises awareness and draws attention to the challenges that we face running an air ambulance service for Devon.
Most people understand how vital the service is, but I have become increasingly conscious that many don’t realise how we are funded.
I can understand why. If you or someone you love is seriously ill or injured, you don’t want to be wondering about how the service is paid for; you just want to know that help is there.
Because people see Devon Air Ambulance as such a vital part of the emergency response in our county, there’s a natural assumption that there must be public funding behind it. But there isn’t.
Devon Air Ambulance is funded entirely through charitable donations. Every single penny we use to operate comes from the fantastic people of Devon and our wider community of supporters, including individuals and businesses. This is a significant and continual fundraising challenge for us.
I am responsible for our operations and perhaps one of the other things that isn’t always obvious is just how much goes into making sure we can respond.
A mission doesn’t start when you hear the helicopter overhead. Long before that, we’re ensuring our highly-skilled clinicians and pilots have the right training, kit, equipment, vehicles and technology to perform critical care to the highest standard. There is a much wider team behind the scenes making sure everything is in place.
Responding every day of the year
In 2025 our crews responded to 2,125 missions by air and land, including 395 at night. That gives you some idea of the demand for the service.
And that is becoming more expensive.
Times are tough and our operating costs are increasing, while some of the income we rely on is becoming less predictable. In 2025, we had a budget gap of £1.1 million. Raising awareness of this is central to Keep Us Flying.
We also want to be clear that Devon Air Ambulance is not about to stop. Our crews are responding every day, and protecting frontline patient care remains our priority. Keep Us Flying isn’t an emergency appeal or an attempt to create alarm.
It’s about being honest about the challenges we are facing and doing the sensible things we need to do now.
Perhaps predictably for someone who works in Operations, I tend to think about it in terms of planning ahead. You don’t wait for an aircraft to develop a problem before you start thinking about maintenance. You plan, check, prepare and try to deal with things early.
There’s a similar principle here. We know the financial environment is challenging; we know our costs are rising; and we know that if we want this service to be here for the next patient, and for patients many years from now, we need to take action.
Some of that action is ours, and we’ve already taken action to work more efficiently, including changes expected to save around £400,000 each year. We will continue to do this, but we also need to raise awareness that it is solely public support that makes this service possible.
We’ve been providing critical care to people in Devon for 34 years and continuing for years to come is what Keep Us Flying is about. It isn’t simply about keeping helicopters in the air. It’s about keeping the whole service behind them ready for the next call, the next patient and the future.
If you already support Devon Air Ambulance, thank you. Genuinely. You are part of the reason our crew can do what they do.
And if you’ve always assumed that because an air ambulance is an essential service, it must be publicly funded; you certainly won’t be the only one.
Hopefully Keep Us Flying will help more people understand how it really works, and why the support of our communities remains so important.
Because there really is no us without you.
