Remember us with a Gift in your Will
After you've provided for those closest to you, perhaps you would consider leaving a gift to the South Western Ambulance Charity in your will.
Every gift in every will makes a real difference, no matter how large or small - even 1%.
Choosing to leave us a gift is easy to arrange and your contribution will be very much valued.
Gifts are used to support our dedicated ambulance staff, enhance equipment available to our volunteer Community First Responders (CFRs) and to improve cardiac arrest survival rates.
If you are even considering leaving us a gift in your will, please do get in touch so we can understand more about any intended gift and how you might like us to use it. We can share with you how other gifts are already being used.
Please do seek professional advice to make sure that your wishes are clear and correct. You may need our UK registered charity number which is 1049230.
Supporting Staff Development
In 2019/20 legacy gifts enabled us to provide bursaries of around £1,000 each to 48 students who were undertaking Paramedic development courses with the University of the West of England Distance Learning Programme.
One bursary recipient said; "Bursaries such as this are significant as they not only alleviate a level of difficulty from day to day life but also serve to rejuvenate morale ... helping people such as myself to progress academically and gain further accredited study contributing to progressing in the workplace".
Get In Touch
If you would like any more information, or would like to discuss the possibility of making a gift, please do contact Louise (Fundraising Manager) or Zoe (Head of Charity) by email to charity@swast.nhs.uk or give us a call on 0300 3690108 .
Making an 'In Memory' Gift
Many people choose to make a charitable donation in memory of loved ones who are no longer with us.
We are very grateful to receive in-memory donations and kind messages from friends and families who wish to thank the South Western Ambulance Service staff for their support through a very difficult time.
Funeral Directors may be able to advise you on the 'in memory' donation services that they recommend or use.
You may wish to consider using on-line websites such as JustGiving or Much Loved to set up a tribute to someone you loved who has sadly passed away.
The Gift of GoodSAM
We know that for every minute that a cardiac arrest patient doesn't receive CPR or defibrillation, their chance of survival falls by 10%.
A generous legacy gift enabled us to invest £40,000 to fund the implementation of the life-saving App GoodSAM (Smartphone Activated Medics). The App is used to alert trained responders to cardiac arrest incidents in their local community, so they can provide lifesaving support before ambulance crews arrive. The aim is to increase the number of people who survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
SWASFT Clinical Lead Rhys said; "The GoodSAM app is a fantastic innovation, which means our community of volunteers can reach the most seriously ill patients sooner and help to save lives. Every second counts when it comes to cardiac arrest".
Thanks to a legacy gift, the GoodSAM app is helping to improve survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the South West.
