National Air Ambulance Week 2026
Lia’s Wings is an air ambulance charity, but not as you know it.
When you hear ‘air ambulance’, what do you picture?
A helicopter? You wouldn’t be wrong, but that’s not us.
Lia’s Wings is the only UK air ambulance charity providing life-saving transfers by aeroplane both in the UK and internationally. We help babies and children reach the specialist care they need, while providing tailored support to families facing difficult and uncertain times.
We use aeroplanes so that we can travel further, which is why we’re the first and only UK charity dedicated to helping children who need an urgent aeromedical transfer from overseas. This type of transport also allows us to accommodate babies and children with the most complex medical conditions, helping them access specialist care wherever they are.
Some journeys help children access care closer to home and their families.
Some help them reach specialist centres for life-saving medical care.
Some take place within the UK, while others cross international borders.
It’s a unique kind of air ambulance service, designed around the individual needs of their child and their family's circumstances.
For Oana, that support made all the difference.
When four-month-old Adam was critically injured while his family were on holiday in Italy, his mum Oana suddenly found herself alone in a foreign hospital, trying to arrange his medical transfer home.
Lia's Wings helped bring Adam back to the UK for the specialist care he needed while supporting Oana throughout the journey. After five weeks apart, the family were finally reunited.
"The Lia's Wings Team texted me every day. Little updates just to reassure me that things were moving forward. That let me focus on Adam because he was still in hospital, quite critical. Those little texts allowed me to breathe."
Help us be a lifeline for more families
Every day, families like Adam's find themselves facing situations they never imagined possible. A child becomes seriously ill, is injured or is born early far from home, and the vital care they need is hundreds or thousands of miles away. Suddenly they're navigating uncertainty, logistics and life-changing decisions all at once. That's when Lia's Wings becomes a lifeline.
This National Air Ambulance Week, help us be a lifeline for the next family who needs us.
✈️ Donate your leftover holiday currency
Many of the children we support become ill or injured while abroad. If you've returned from holiday with spare euros, dollars or other currency, you can turn them into life-saving support for families who need to get home. Donate them here.
🛍️ Shop through cashback schemes
Support Lia's Wings at no extra cost by using platforms such as EasyFundraising. A percentage of your purchase is automatically donated.
🏃 Take on a challenge
Run, walk, cycle, skydive or create your own challenge. Every mile and every pound raised helps children access specialist care when they need it most. Explore our challenge events.
💼 Support us through your workplace
Nominate Lia's Wings for corporate funding opportunities, charity partnerships or payroll giving schemes. Your workplace could help fund life-saving transfers for children and families. If you'd like support with this, please email charlotte.reyes@lias-wings.org.uk.
☕ Host your own fundraiser
Bring friends, family or colleagues together for a coffee morning, bake sale or craft event and raise funds to help children safely reach the care they need. If you need materials for your fundraiser or simply want to bounce fundraising ideas off us, please email hello@lias-wings.org.uk.
📣 Help more families find us
Many families don't know we exist until they desperately need us. By sharing our stories and social media posts, you can help ensure more people know where to turn in a crisis. Find us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
This National Air Ambulance Week, help us ensure no family faces that journey alone.
