The Fundraising Regulator is investigating a charity set up to purchase and run an air ambulance service in Staffordshire.
Stoke Air Ambulance was established to respond quickly to emergencies and improve outcomes for patients in critical need. It is aiming to raise funds for its own helicopter with the goal of having it in service by the end of summer 2025.
The charity had an income of £54,457 in the year to the end of 30 June 2023 and expenditure of £59,949 over the same period, latest accounts show.
An air ambulance helicopter can cost about £10m to purchase.
A spokesperson for the Fundraising Regulator said: “We can confirm we are investigating a complaint made about Stoke Air Ambulance charity.”
Philip Copeland, founder and chief executive of Stoke Air Ambulance, confirmed the charity has had “about 80 complaints” made to the regulator.
“We have had about 80 complaints made to the funding regulator about nearly everything we say and do, most of them petty,” he said.
Anthony Marsh, chief executive of West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust, said the trust saw no requirement for any further aircraft in the area.
“The Staffordshire area is one of the best-served regions in the country for air ambulances, with West Midlands Ambulance Service able to access seven different aircraft from four different helicopter emergency medical service charities for incidents,” Marsh said.
“We currently see no requirement for any further aircraft in the area as we are already always able to task a helicopter in a timely manner to cases in this area.”