The air ambulance service which covers Shropshire today appealed for anyone helped by the flying doctor service to come forward and tell their tale.

Midlands Air Ambulance, which also serves Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, was originally founded as Air 5 in 1991 and operated a single helicopter from temporary facilities at East Midlands Airport.

The charity has since grown into one of the UK’s largest and busiest air am-bulance organisations, operating three helicopters and responding to more than 3,000 emergency calls each year.

Jason Levy, head of fundraising at Midlands Air Ambulance, said: “A lot has changed since we formed in 1991. It is only in more recent years that people have come forward and wanted to share their airlift experiences so we would really love to hear from anyone who was involved in an airlift during the charity’s early years and help us to tell the whole story of Midlands Air Ambulance from their point of view.”

The charity wants to hear from as many airlift survivors or their friends and family as possible and build a library of stories representing each year it has been in existence.

Midlands Air Ambulance will also host a gala dinner to celebrate its 20th birthday on May 21 at Worcester Warriors RFC stadium where members of the public, including some of those who have been assisted by the air ambulance, will be represented.

The area covered by the helicopter service is home to six million people. The air ambulance operator has attended 1,048 road accidents over the last 12 months on some of the most congested motorway networks in the country, responded to 175 industrial accidents, 432 sporting injuries, completed 100 emergency hospital transfers and airlifted 188 children.

Service spokeswoman Lucie Sissons said if a patient reached hospital within 60 minutes of injury their chances of survival were dramatically increased and that was why the rapid response of The Midlands Air Ambulance Charity was so vital.

The charity has an annual running cost of £6 million but receives no funding from Government or the National Lottery.