WE’LL reach the magic million mark - that's the message from a Worcestershire paralegal firm that has raised over £845,000 for charity.

Over the past five years Malvern-based Wills and Legal Services (WLS) has raised over £845,000 for the HELP Appeal, the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads.

And this year it hopes to give a huge boost to this vital cause by smashing its £1million target and helping to save more lives.

Sarah Watson, director of WLS, said: "The HELP Appeal’s aim is that an air ambulance should be able to land as close as possible to a hospital’s emergency department, so a critically ill patient can access expert care immediately and potentially save their life.

"Raising £1million could make a real difference in helping them to achieve their goal.”

WLS’ specialist paralegals, who operate throughout England and Wales, support the HELP Appeal through their wills campaign, where they write wills for a suggested donation of around £40 to the HELP Appeal.

Since 2014, more than 21,000 people have supported the HELP Appeal through this campaign. The donations have already helped to build and upgrade 36 hospital helipads across the country, which have seen over 12,000 landings.

There are also 44 more helipad projects in the pipeline including at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Hereford County Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth in Birmingham, all of which will be funded by the HELP Appeal.

Martin Henderson, who appeared in Channel 4’s ‘24 hours in A&E’, suffered multiple fractures to his spine after a paragliding accident and had to be airlifted to a hospital helipad which was close to the emergency department. He was in a coma for eight days. Now recovered, he’s enjoying life with his wife Wendy.

Martin said: “Some people may feel indestructible, but when you have a serious accident like I did, you realise you’re not. Any delay in treatment could have been detrimental to my health. The helipad ensured that I was delivered into the right hands promptly.”

If you would like your will written by a specialist paralegal law firm as part of WLS’ HELP Appeal Charity Will Campaign, please call 01885 490380 and quote HELP Appeal Charity Will, which is part of the national charity will donation scheme.