THE Midlands Air Ambulance Charity is holding a virtual open day at its Strensham airbase in Worcestershire on Sunday September 13.

Virtual visitors can take a VIP tour of the airbase, the air ambulance helicopter, rapid response vehicle and critical care car - and they can also see an aircrew demonstration showing how they tend to an incident scene.

The charity had been set to host a physical open day at the base to showcase the work of the region's lifesaving emergency services provision but the popular annual event has had to be cancelled due to social distancing measures aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus.

It is the second virtual open day the charity has staged this year - the first was at its Tatenhill airbase in Staffordshire, in late June, while most of the UK’s lockdown measures were still in place.

Emma Gray, fundraising and marketing director for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity, said: “Following the success of our first virtual open day at Tatenhill and as the charity is set to see a 48 per cent deficit in fundraising income, we are pleased to offer our Strensham airbase event virtually too.

“Throughout the pandemic, the demand for our rapid response, pre-hospital emergency service did not falter, which is why we are focusing on engaging with the people and businesses in the communities we serve to give them a unique insight into the critical work we do, and to demonstrate their donations are vital in supporting our lifesaving cause.”

The virtual Strensham open day is free for people to get involved with but virtual visitors can show their appreciation by making a donation to the charity's online bucket collection at justgiving.com/campaign/maaconlinebucketcollection.

Or people can send a one off donation direct to the charity through its website midlandsairambulance.com/donatenow.

Air ambulance supporters can also donate by text by texting MISSIONPOSSIBLE as one word, followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70085 (for example MISSIONPOSSIBLE £3).

The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity's emergency medics at can be seen in action in a new TV show airing on Channel 5 on Mondays at 9pm. Episode 3 will broadcast this Monday (September 14) and all episodes screened to date can be seen on the on demand service My5.