Our story
Changing children's lives since 2010
Lia's Wings, formerly known as Lucy Air Ambulance for Children, was established in 2010 in response to an urgent need for an air transfer service for critically ill children. Initially we were run completely by volunteers who were passionate about helping babies and children access specialist treatment and care.
We completed our first ever transfer in 2011. We flew Benjamin 170 miles from the University of Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent to Kingston Hospital in Surrey, so that he could receive neonatal care closer to home. This was a huge milestone for our charity.
Since Ben’s transfer, our charity has significantly grown the number of transfers we do each year and increased the variety of specialist services we provide. Our charity has established a strong reputation for flying babies and children to hospitals in the UK and, increasingly, from abroad. We are here for the whole family for as long as they need us to ensure improved outcomes for both the child and their support network.
We are proud to achieve so much for so many families across the UK. You can read some of their incredible stories below.
For Lia
Our charity is named after an incredibly special young girl called Lia. Lia is the daughter of our Trustees, Patrick and Melissa Schoennagel.
Lia lived her short life to the fullest but suddenly passed away, aged only five years. Her death has deeply affected those of us who knew and loved her. Driven by the loving determination of her family that something good would come out of this awful tragedy, Lia’s parents, Patrick and Melissa, as well as our charity's Board of Trustees and staff team, want Lia’s prematurely-ended life to be the catalyst for change at our small charity.
Patrick, Lia's dad, says:
“In the days, weeks, and months following Lia’s untimely passing from this world, sometimes the only thing that would give us strength is a question we’d ask ourselves: “What would Lia want?” We think she’d want us to go on, to find joy again, and to do what she did so intuitively – to support and help others. That is why we will do even more to help children and their parents who, like us not that long ago, are sitting in hospitals, desperate and confused, and in extreme need of not only a physical transfer, but overall support. Lia would have loved that.”
Our ambitions for the future
Our charity has built a strong reputation for hospital air transfers for children here in the UK and, increasingly, abroad. We also supported families in the weeks, months and years that follow the need for such a transfer. We are so proud of everything we have achieved so far, but now we need to grow and do so much more, and thanks to Lia, we can.
Lia’s parents, Patrick and Melissa, are channelling their love for their daughter and their support of our charity, to raise significant funds for our charity to expand our work. Thanks to Lia’s legacy, we are able to:
Fund more
life-changing
air transfers
Expand our family care package
Continue to develop our partnership with the NHS
Provide training for more medical staff to transfer more babies and children
Lia is transforming our charity.
Lia’s character, memory and love of life will live on through our charity’s work. She will always be at the heart of this charity and we will continue to save and change children’s lives in her name.
Grow with us
We want to grow our charity's impact in Lia's name. We have big ambitions for our charity's service and are looking for partners to help us grow and expand our work. If you would like to learn more about our charity, ambitions for the future and what role you can play in our development, please get in touch with our CEO, Charlotte, with the details below. We would love to hear from you!