East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) will receive £1.7 million of the funding, which will allow it to buy a new Airbus EC 145 T2 helicopter, improving coverage for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. 
The new helicopter, which will be based in Norwich and be part of the regional 999 emergency response service, will also have a longer flying range and capacity for extra crew members.
East Anglian Air Ambulance is one of the first night helicopter emergency medical service operations for the UK. Since the charity’s launch in 2000, the dedicated medical crews on the charity’s specially equipped helicopters have attended to over 16,000 people across the region.
During the Chancellor’s visit to Norwich, he met members of the critical care team including the doctor and critical care paramedics. He was also shown the charity’s existing helicopter, an EC 135 T2 aircraft.
The Chancellor made the £10 million funding pledge at last week’s Budget, which comes from fines levied on banks for misconduct.
The Chancellor pledged that all the proceeds from these fines would be spent during this parliament on military and blue light good causes. So far, funding has been awarded to a range of projects from the Invictus Games to mental health support for ambulance, police and fire services.
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
“Air ambulances play a vital role in saving lives both here in the East of England and across the country as a whole. I was delighted to be able to announce £1.7 million of additional funding for a new helicopter for the East Anglian Air Ambulance Charity at the Budget.
This funding comes from fines levied on banks, and it’s only right that funds from those who demonstrated the worst values should go to those, like the brave air ambulance crews, who demonstrate the best of British values on a daily basis.”