RAISING an extra £1.8m a year to stay in service will not put Wiltshire’s Air Ambulance at risk of closure according to the charity’s chief executive.

The current contract between Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire Air Ambulance Charitable Trust costs the charity £700,000 a year to run, but when this ends in December 2014 the charity will be forced to go it alone and foot an annual bill of £2.5m.

The National Police Air Service began operating in October 2012 and provides centralised air support to territorial police forces.

Wiltshire Police will join up with this scheme, and receive air support from Bristol and Dorset, once its contract with the local service ends.

David Philpott, chief executive at the charity, made it clear he had no concerns the increase, which equates to £6,000 a day, would put the air ambulance at jeopardy, with rising revenue and reserves in place to cover costs.

“We have known this has been coming for some time. It was put forward by the previous government and is not a coalition idea,” said Mr Philpott.

“In anticipation we have got sums of money set aside to mitigate against this.

“We have a reasonable pot of reserves and we have, over the past 12 months, seen our income increase from £900,000 to £1.8m.

“We can’t be complacent about this issue, though. We will continue to work hard behind the scenes.

“Even with the income rise we would need another £700,000 a year.

“There are lots of strategies in place to engage donors.

“The minute we think we’ve got it in the bag is the minute we lose the plot.”

Among the moves being made by the charity is a Friends of Wiltshire Air Ambulance scheme, which will take off in September.

The scheme will give local people the opportunity to become regular donors in return for news and access to events hosted by the trust.

Mr Philpott does not anticipate the end of the contract with Wiltshire Police will mean the end of a working relationship. He said a 25-year working history would be hard to ignore when each organisation relied on the other.

“Around the country the National Police Air Service has not necessarily been a great success. There has been a lot of resistance from police and crime commissioners,” he said.

“A lot of forces have been dragging their feet. Wiltshire Police have acted in a professional and measured manner in the way they handled this issue.

“It may well be that, even though Wiltshire Police will be a part of NPAS from 2015, our relationship will continue in some form, on some level, even without their funding support.”