Faith leaders from across Cambridgeshire gathered at the new Magpas Air Ambulance base to bless the new building in Alconbury Weald.

The event took place on October 5 when the charity’s founder, Dr Neville Silverston MBE, spoke about the origins of Magpas Air Ambulance and how it has grown and developed over the past 52 years.

Leaders representing 10 faiths gathered at the front of the new building. The leaders took it turn to bless the base in different ways, all thanking the people and the work undertaken within building for its important impact on the community.

The religions represented at the event, by 14 different community and faith leaders, were Bahá'í, Buddhist, Catholic, Church of England, Hindu, Islam, Methodist, Orthodox Jewish, Reform Jewish and Sikh.

The Hunts Post: Mike Frankl and Denise Neapolitan, from the Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue.Mike Frankl and Denise Neapolitan, from the Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue. (Image: MAGPAS)

The Hunts Post: The Rt Revd Dr Dagmar Winter, from the Diocese of Ely.The Rt Revd Dr Dagmar Winter, from the Diocese of Ely. (Image: MAGPAS)

Magpas chief executive Daryl Brown said: “The event was a wonderful way to reflect on the importance of our new charity base and the work all our team members undertake from the facility.

"Our clinicians and aviation team in particular have hazardous elements to their roles and bringing a multitude of faiths together to wish them well in their work and bestow positive affirmations on staff and the building was an important occasion for many.”

The Magpas Air Ambulance airbase, headquarters and training centre was opened by HRH The Princess Royal in September, with the charity’s staff, clinical and aviation teams moving in the weeks following.

The new building has been designed to better support the growing 24/7 service as well as enhance the wellbeing of the Magpas Air Ambulance crews. 

Additionally, being based in Alconbury Weald—just a stone’s throw away from the region’s major trunk roads—the location of the new building, combined with its bespoke design optimising crew dispatch, will reduce activation times too. This will enable the charity to respond as quickly as possible to patients in life-threatening emergencies across the region.