We have donated a brand new, community support vehicle to St John Ambulance to help save hundreds of lives and mitigate their carbon footprint.
The vehicle was unveiled at an event at the Tyne Tunnels (12 March) where TT2 employees and St John Ambulance volunteers got to look around it and see demonstrations of how the vehicle’s high-tech, lifesaving equipment will work in action.
As well as the new motor vehicle addition to the health response charity’s fleet, we are also funding 30 new response bicycles – worth a total of £115,000.
The enhanced fleet will help the charity continue to keep communities safe and replace some of its older and less-efficient vehicles which will improve its service and environmental impact.
The new response bikes mean first aid volunteers can reach emergency situations in busy or pedestrianised areas that are sometimes difficult to reach by car or ambulance.
National Fleet Manager for St John Ambulance, Phillip Howard said: “It’s been a very exciting day revealing the new vehicle, which will provide life-saving care at busy events, in crowds and by responding to 999 calls. It will be based in the North East and ensure we are able to continue reaching those who need our help.”
The donations are part of a three-year partnership which includes a collaboration between us, TT2, and St John Ambulance to promote and educate on keeping safe and road safety.
TT2’s CEO, Adrian Wallace, said: “We are very proud to support such a key charity in our region and across the UK.
“We’ve funded many transport schemes in the North East for charities including Daft as a Brush, Tiny Lives and Red Sky, but this is our largest commitment to date.”
Lynn Horrocks, County Commissioner, Northumbria and Durham, at St John Ambulance, adds: “We’re so grateful to TT2 for this fantastic and very generous donation. The new Community Support Unit is an excellent new resource to enable our volunteers to continue to provide first aid in the community and the bicycles will be put to immediate use at events and in built-up areas around the country, enabling lifesaving first aid to be delivered in areas which larger vehicles are unable to access, and providing immediate benefits at events large and small.
“The overall impact in further reducing our carbon footprint is very important to us at St John. The whole local volunteer team thanks TT2 for these bicycles and the vehicle.”
We support multiple good causes in the region every year via our substantial community support programme. TT2 gave over £140,000 to its local communities in 2024 and over £110,000 in 2023.