A new emergency vehicle for Cumbria’s BEEP Doctors has been unveiled.
The vehicle, sponsored by Suffolk-based Smarter Metering Services, will be used to attend serious medical incidents across the county.
The volunteer doctors who work for BEEP currently use their own vehicles to attend call outs.
The car will be fitted out with emergency blue lights, sirens, dash cams, and branded livery.
BEEP Doctors, which is headquartered in Penrith, is part of the national BASICS charity.
Tom Ward, of Smarter Metering Services, had treatment from a BASICS team in the south of the country a few years ago.
He connected with BEEP Doctors via social media.
Tom said: “I really wanted to help the BASICS charity and as part of our business is leasing cars, we thought this was a great way to help.
“We have donated several cars across the UK now, but we are very excited to be helping the BEEP Doctors as we understand the difficulties of working in such a rural location and how vital having a robust vehicle is when attending emergencies.”
The new vehicle will initially be stationed at BEEP’s new headquarters in Penrith but will also be used by doctors in the far north of the county, the South Lakes and West Cumbria on a rota system.
Dr Chris Moss, one of the BEEP Doctors who made the initial contact with Smarter Metering Services, added: “We are hugely grateful to Smarter Metering Services for donating this car to us. It will mean we have a really visual presence in the county and enable us to get to incidents more safely.
“The dream would be to have a fleet of cars for all our doctors, and this is something we aim for in the future.”
BEEP Doctors launched a campaign to raise £45,000 at the beginning of the year to help it buy new equipment.
It has so raised 85 per cent of its target.