Magpas Air Ambulance staff, clinicians, former patients and supporters witnessed an important milestone in the charity’s history as HRH The Princess Royal opened the new charity airbase on September 12. 

The life-saving charity has been working to build a purpose-built airbase, headquarters and training centre in Alconbury Weald for the last six years.

The building, designed by MCW architects and constructed by Lindum, includes a dedicated state-of-the-art training centre for the next generation of pre-hospital emergency doctors and paramedics.

The Hunts Post: The new Magpas Air Ambulance airbase, headquarters and training centre.The new Magpas Air Ambulance airbase, headquarters and training centre. (Image: MAGPAS)

 

It will be equipped for 24/7 operations with well-being and rest facilities for crew and clinicians; and has new community and patient facilities on site—including a dedicated space for patients and their families to visit the charity and meet with the clinicians who treated them.

The Hunts Post: HRH The Princess Royal meets former patient Ben Haughton and his mum Anne Haughton.HRH The Princess Royal meets former patient Ben Haughton and his mum Anne Haughton. (Image: MAGPAS)

HRH The Princess Royal became Magpas Air Ambulance’s Patron after she visited the charity’s previous operations base in February 2020, and heard about the need for the service to find a new home.

In 2021, the charity’s 50th year of operations, HRH launched the Future 50 Appeal aimed at raising the funding needed to complete the building. And in February of this year, HRH unveiled a cornerstone to mark the ongoing development of the project.  

Daryl Brown MBE DL, the charity’s chief executive officer, said: “It was an honour to welcome our the Princess Royal to the site and show her around the building as she’s been so pivotal in helping us achieve.  

The Hunts Post: HRH The Princess Royal, Magpas Air Ambulance CEO Daryl Brown MBE DL and HM Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Julie Spence OBE CStJ QPM at the event. HRH The Princess Royal, Magpas Air Ambulance CEO Daryl Brown MBE DL and HM Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire Julie Spence OBE CStJ QPM at the event. (Image: MAGPAS)

“After she unveiled the plaque, which will become a treasured part of our building alongside the cornerstone, we were delighted to see her passion for the service we provide.  

“It’s incredibly exciting to see, what has been a plan for a very long time, finally come to fruition. Magpas Air Ambulance has treated over 70,000 patients in the past 50 years, and this new building will be fundamental to our service going forward saving thousands more lives and keeping families together for generations to come.”