William and Catherine help fund new London air ambulances

HIGHLIGHTS:

>The Prince and Princess of Wales have made a private donation to help fund two air ambulance helicopters.

>The charity, of which William is patron, can now replace its 20-year-old fleet with two Airbus H135 helicopters.

>As part of the two-year appeal, William spoke at two fundraising galas, including one where he appeared alongside Tom Cruise.

>The prince is understood to have facilitated meetings between charity officials and potential donors.

>Ian Patrick, William’s private secretary, said: “Their royal highnesses regularly undertake private philanthropy and ordinarily we wouldn’t share this, but I wanted to give you a window into that.”

>Patrick added that the couple had also made private donations to the London Air Ambulance appeal; James’s Place, a charity that supports suicidal men; the Shout mental help text crisis service; and disaster relief causes after the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, the war in Ukraine and the hurricane in the Caribbean.

>Jonathan Jenkins, chief executive officer of London’s Air Ambulance Charity, said: “The support of the Prince of Wales throughout our campaign has been invaluable, both publicly and privately.