'Misleading' air ambulance charity which had no aircraft or medical staff is under investigation
An air ambulance charity with aspirations to serve parts of north Shropshire and Staffordshire is under investigation after a regulator found it did not have a helicopter or medical staff.
An air ambulance charity is facing a full investigation by the Charity Commission after code breaches were found by the Fundraising Regulator.
Stoke Air Ambulance CIO has aspirations to one day serve areas of Shropshire and Staffordshire including Stafford, Market Drayton and Loggerheads.
In a report published on Wednesday (February 4), the Fundraising Regulator said an investigation had found a number of code breaches relating to the charity's online fundraising materials.
These included what it said were "misleading and unsubstantiated claims" by Stoke Air Ambulance, as well as "unfair criticism of other organisations" and "encouraging donors to cancel existing donations to other organisations".
The report from the independent regulator said Stoke Air Ambulance did not, at the time, have access to a helicopter, an operational base, or clinicians, and did not have approval from the Care Quality Commission.
According to the Fundraising Regulator, the charity's website was "misleading" because the organisation "did not make it clear enough that the charity did not yet operate a functional air ambulance service".
The report stated: "We considered that potential donors might reasonably believe their gifts would support a working service."
The regulator also said that the website made statements suggesting that other air ambulance charities were less responsive to emergencies in the Stoke area than in other areas they covered, despite a lack of evidence.
One webpage reportedly encouraged donors to change their donations to benefit Stoke Air Ambulance instead of similar charities.
The regulator noted that the charity did update its site between March 2025 and May 2025, which resolved some of its concerns.
Following the report, a statutory inquiry into Stoke Air Ambulance has been opened by the Charity Commission.
The inquiry will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect to the administration, governance and management of the charity.
In a statement, a spokesperson from Stoke Air Ambulance CIO said: “The trustees of Stoke Air Ambulance CIO are fully aware of the findings of the Fundraising Regulator and are taking steps to address the issues raised.
“In addition to this, the trustees have been engaged with the Charity Commission since November 2025 and are cooperating fully with the statutory inquiry."
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