Sixty-one Lions clubs from across the South East have pooled resources to buy a new rapid response vehicle for the Kent Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance (KSS).

The clubs are all part of the Lions 105SE District, which includes Tonbridge, Maidstone, Sittingbourne, Gillingham, Southborough and Sheerness.

The car will be used by KSS to provide the same emergency medical care provided by the helicopter crews by road when circumstances such as bad weather prevent the helicopter from flying.

The Lions Clubs held street collections, book stalls, sponsored walks and sponsored swims (all pre-lockdown) to raised the £35,000 needed to purchase the Volvo XC90, which has been fitted with a blue light bar on the roof, additional blue lights, sirens and the 'Battenberg' markings that form KSS’s corporate livery.

The Volvo XC90 is one of four rapid response vehicles used by the charity and replaces one of their vehicles which was funded by the Lions in 2015. It has upgraded brakes and suspension to accommodate the nature of high speed and long distance travel.

Howard Lee, who co-ordinated the appeal for the Lions, said: “We have raised funds for KSS for many years, partly because their geography coincides with ours, but largely because of the invaluable role the charity plays in saving lives.

"Over the last eight years, we have raised more than £360,000 for KSS and we look forward to continuing our relationship with KSS in the future, helping them to save many more lives.”

KSS’s director of income generation Lynne Harris said: “Many people only associate KSS with helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) but our rapid response vehicles, which we use primarily when the helicopters aren’t available, are vital to our 24/7 service and effectively enable us to deliver A&E hospital level of care to the patient, regardless of where they are and no matter what the weather conditions are like.

"Over the last year, 66% of all missions were tasked to helicopters and 34% to rapid response cars. Rapid response vehicles attended more than 870 incidents.

“Unlike our helicopters, our rapid response vehicles cannot carry patients.

"However, they enable our medical crews to reach patients at high speed in order to deliver vital life-saving interventions to give enough time for the patient to reach hospital by land.

"In these situations, our team works closely with the ambulance service and often travels with and cares for the patient while they are transported to hospital."

'We are hugely grateful'

“It is therefore critical for us that we have a reliable and safe fleet of specially equipped cars."

KSS drives an average of around 4,000 miles each month per vehicle.

Mrs Harris said: "When we explained to the Lions in February last year that one of our vehicles needed to be replaced, they generously agreed to make this the focus of one of their major fundraising projects and we are hugely grateful."

KSS has its headquarters at Rochester, but the helicopter is based at Redhill Aerodrome. The service was founded in 1990.

For information about how to donate to the Lions, visit here.

For information about KSS, visit here.

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