At BASICS Essex, our volunteer clinicians provide pre-hospital critical care across the county, which is completely funded by the generosity of public and corporate fundraising and sponsorship. Since 2023, Chelmsford-based Gepp Solicitors has been working with BASICS Essex as a charity partner, contributing to over £3,500 in fundraising contributions. Miranda Best, Business Development and Marketing Director at Gepp Solicitors, said;   “We were on a look out for an exciting local charity that is driving impact in our community and that received minimal government funding. BASICS Essex met all these needs, and the team were very keen to meet and inspire colleagues.”   In a passionate presentation, BASICS Essex Chairman Paul Gates kicked off the relationship by sharing stories of how volunteer clinicians are dedicated to providing pre-hospital critical care and saving lives while supporting the East of England Ambulance Service. NHS Trust Over the past three years, Gepp Solicitor colleagues have fundraised through a series of activities including Quizzes, Just Giving donations and Christmas Cards, alongside a challenging trek across the Lake District. Furthermore, the Law firm has continuously invited BASICS Essex colleagues to the Young Farmers Show, where our volunteer clinicians have demonstrated CPR and AED sessions, raising local awareness of the charity. We look forward to also attending this year’s event on Sunday 18th May 2025   Miranda added, “The one thing I love about this sort of CSR activity is that it really brings the team together. It has been a real team effort and I’m incredibly proud of colleagues who have supported this incredible charity. With recent fundraising, BASICS Essex has invested in a new emergency response vehicle, improved personal protective equipment and training for volunteer clinicians, Paul Gates, BASICS Essex Chairman; “We are incredibly grateful for the support that Miranda and the Gepp Solicitor team have provided over recent years, and look forward to continuing our strong relationship in the future.” The charity has also set up a new ‘Sponsor A Clinician’ scheme, offering benefits such as a complimentary CPR workshop and website listings for local businesses who want to support the charity. Learn more about how you can support the team here https://bit.ly/sponsoraclinician

At BASICS Essex, our team of volunteer clinicians are dedicated to providing critical pre-hospital care to Essex residents, responding to emergency medical incidents across the county at the request of the East of England Ambulance Service.   Nick Sillett, aged 38 from Bishop’s Storford, is one of these passionate volunteers & joined the BASICS Essex team in 2016, continuing alongside his current job as an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner Critical Care and Clinical Supervisor.   Graduating from the University of Hertfordshire in 2008 with a degree in Paramedic Science, Nick always wanted to pursue a career as Paramedic.  Throughout his career, he has continuously sought to enhance his clinical and professional skills, taking on various roles such as Clinical Team Leader and Staff Officer.   “ I have volunteered in some capacity since I first joined St. John Ambulance aged six (probably what sparked my career ambition to become a Paramedic).    I joined the forerunning of BASICS Essex, BEARS, in 2016 when the charity purchased its first dedicated enhanced care car.  I was keen to be part of this new team, learning from Doctor colleagues and bringing the skills and experience I have gained in London to my local community.”   He is a part of our enhanced car crew responding as part of a team but also can act as a solo responder, allowing him to be available for callouts whilst also spending precious time with his young family.   When he isn’t working or volunteering, Nick can be found kayaking on the local waterways.   “In all honesty, it can be difficult juggling time, especially with a young family – but as a solo responder I am able to book on and off of the system to remain flexible.”   As part of his day-to-day role, Nick attends the most critical ill and injured patients, utilising an extended scope of practice and clinical formulary to autonomously assess, manage, and coordinate complex care in demanding situations.    He holds an MSc in Emergency and Resuscitation Medicine from QMUL and is a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire, where he enjoys teaching and developing future Paramedics.  He has a specific interest in Point of Care Ultrasound and holds a PGCert in Medical Ultrasound.   Nick shared how this experience helped serve some of his memorable moments working as a volunteer responder for BASICS Essex.   “I recall attending a road traffic collision case as a BASICS Essex Responder where there were multiple critically injured patients.  I was the first critical care paramedic on scene and worked with two air ambulance teams to provide enhanced care to both patients.  Their injuries were so severe that their initial prognosis was very poor.     “When I received an invitation to a patient reunion with them, I was astounded.  Meeting them was really rather emotional and I felt privileged to have played a very small part in their care and recovery.  This case still motivates me to volunteer for BASICS Essex to this very day.”   OUR VOLUNTEERS NEED YOUR SPONSORSHIP.   As a charity organisation, we rely solely on the generous donations of public and corporate sponsorship, so that we can equip our volunteers with the best vehicles, PPE, medical equipment and training to save lives and make a difference within Essex communities.

At BASICS Essex, our team of volunteer clinicians work around the clock providing critical pre-hospital care and assistance to the East of England Ambulance Service, typically managing day-to-day roles alongside this.   This includes volunteer James Samouelle from Chelmsford, who works as an Advanced Critical Care Practitioner for the East of England Ambulance Service.   Talking about his introduction to BASICS Essex eight years ago, Jay said;   “Working in the ambulance service, I had a loose understanding of what BASICS Essex was, but it wasn’t until I saw a roadside incident close to home that I began to realise I could do more to support my local community, and that’s why I joined the scheme.”   As an autonomous responder, Jay confidently manages family life while volunteering for BASICS Essex on average 100 hrs per month, assisting in pre-hospital critical care incidents across the county.   In a recent case, Jay was called to the home of Nicola Giles from Broomfield, who had dislocated her hip and was in need of urgent pain relief.   As an experienced Advanced practitioner, Jay can often carry stronger medicine types on board his vehicle than what is typically stored by Ambulance crews, meaning he could assess the situation, effectively administer pain relief to Nicola and ultimately make it easier support the crew in getting her quickly and safely to hospital. Sharing her experience, Nicola, aged 59 from Broomfield, said; “I would like to share my thanks and appreciation to Jay from BASICS Essex, who visited me at my home alongside the East of England Ambulance service after I had dislocated my hip and was in a lot of pain. “Before the incident, I had not heard of the charity, and was surprised to learn that it was volunteer medical professionals at my side donating their time to keep Essex residents safe. “Jay and the team were extremely pleasant, aiding my comfort with appropriate painkillers, re-assuring me with smiles and laughter, and assisting in getting me to Broomfield Hospital safely and securely.” Three months on, Nicola is finally back to driving, while Jay continues to be an outstanding volunteer for BASICS Essex. He added, “Testimonials like this remind me of why I love volunteering for BASICS Essex. While the role is certainly not without its challenges and difficult moments, I enjoy the notion of helping people, be that adding experience to the crews on site, saving lives, or simply making a patient smile.

Following a generous donation from the HELP Appeal, local emergency medical charity BASICS Essex, has announced the launch of both a new Pre-hospital Critical Care response vehicle and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), supporting its plans for wider incident reach across the county.   The charity, which consists of 25 volunteer clinicians, provides pre-hospital critical care across the heart of Essex communities at the request of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.   BASICS Essex has experienced over 600 callouts in the past five years, with volunteer doctors and paramedics responding to road traffic collisions, cardiac arrest and other critical medical incidents.   The local scheme was awarded over £40,000 in project funding for the new vehicle and PPE from the HELP Appeal, via the British Association for Immediate Care. The HELP Appeal aims to improve pre-hospital care and is the only charity in the country dedicated to funding NHS hospital helipads including at Basildon University Hospital and Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. Paul Gates, Chairman of BASICS Essex, said; “We are extremely thankful to the HELP Appeal for its continued support to the scheme via the British Association for Immediate Care. “Having the second vehicle allows us to provide further pre-hospital critical care across the county, while the investment in PPE helps us to improve both the safety and ability of our volunteer clinicians to function in all conditions.”   Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal said: "We are proud to support these incredible volunteers who play such a crucial role in medical emergencies. In critical moments, quick and effective care can save lives, and this investment will help the team to reach and treat patients faster. Our donation not only contributes to better outcomes for those in urgent need but also provides vital protection for the team who are at the heart of life-saving work across Essex.” To find out more about the HELP Appeal, please visit: www.helpappeal.org.uk Alongside the new vehicle launch, BASICS Essex has also announced a ‘Sponsor A Clinician’ campaign, seeking new corporate partners to pledge yearly support to fund one or more of the clinical volunteers who respond within the scheme.   As part of the pledge, the charity will provide a complimentary CPR and AED workplace session, promotional listing and regular updates from the team.   Paul finished; “We hope the campaign will bring more awareness of the critical work of our volunteers, raise the importance of having appropriate CPR training in the workplace and ultimately support operational costs through sponsorship.

We are thrilled to announce that BASICS Essex has received an incredible £15,000 donation, raised by the dedicated team at Anderson Development Group based in Chelmsford. The funds were collected through the efforts of their fantastic runners who participated in this year’s London Marathon. We are deeply grateful to Anderson Development Group and their runners for their hard work and commitment, which will help us continue delivering life-saving emergency medical care across Essex. The London Marathon is no easy feat, and we want to congratulate each runner for their remarkable achievement. Below is a table showing the list of runners and their impressive finish times: Once again, a massive thank you to everyone involved. Your support ensures we can continue making a real difference in our community! Runner Time Adam Bedingham 03:28 Alasdair Sherry 03:39 Derry Jay 04:08 Liam Crancher 04:15 Andrew Jay 04:48 Inge Nijkamp 04:48

We are delighted to share that we have received National Lottery funding from The National Lottery Community Fund as a contribution towards our Second Scheme Car ! Thank you to National Lottery players for helping Make Amazing Happen.

Thank you to everyone for raising donations for BASICS Essex with easyfundraising! If you haven't signed up yet, it's easy and completely FREE. 8,100 brands will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to do your everyday online shopping - at no extra cost to you! Every donation you raise makes a difference to us so please sign up & share today. https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/

We have recently been granted a generous grant from British Association for Immediate care, facilitated by The County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal. On behalf of all at BASICS Essex, we want to say a massive thank you. HELP Appeal have been generously awarding grants to BASICS for 4 years. This will make a huge difference and help our volunteer doctors and paramedics be there to save more lives across Essex. Read more: https://helpappeal.org.uk/ten-volunteer-emergency-medic-groups-receive-donations-from-the-help-appeal/

Thank you to the members of Loughton Town Council for your continued support. Your funding will help us to grow BASICS Essex Charity and support our new model of response, due to increasing demand for our voluntary life saving work. BASICS Essex vision is to be of even greater voluntary service within your communities in 2024 and beyond.

A huge ‘Thank You’ to Essex Community Foundation for its continued support of BASICS Essex. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Essex County Fire & Rescue Service and John Laing Charitable Fund for their kind and generous grants. These funds are administered by Essex Community Foundation … Who’s funding support throughout recent years has greatly contributed towards the growth of our charity and will help to ensure that BASICS Essex can be of even greater voluntary life-saving service in 2024 and beyond.

Thank you to the British Association for Immediate care, facilitated by The County Air Ambulance HELP Appeal for your further support of BASICS Essex. Your funding throughout recent years has greatly contributed towards the growth of our charity and will help to ensure that BASICS Essex can be of even greater voluntary life saving service in 2024 and beyond.

Thank you for your continued support of BASICS Essex. Your funding will help us to grow the charity and support our new model of response, due to increasing demand for our voluntary life saving work. BASICS Essex vision is to be of even greater voluntary service within your communities in 2024 and beyond.