A MALVERN legal firm has donated more than half a million pounds to a charity that builds helipads for air ambulances.

Wills and Legal Services, based at Worcester Road Malvern Link, has since 2014 been raising money for the HELP Appeal, the only charity in the country dedicated to funding hospital helipads.

Paralegals at the firm have been writing wills for thousands of customers in exchange for suggested donations of £40 to the charity, which this year is due to complete a helipad at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

And the firm has now handed over a cheque for £540,000 to the charity.

Senior partner Tony Watson said: “After we learned about the importance of the HELP Appeal’s work in helping to build hospital helipads across the country, which save time and save lives, we decided that we wanted to support this life-saving work.”

Sally Abbott, head of fundraising at the appeal, said: “We’d like to thank Tony and all of the team at WLS for their support and hard work in helping to raise this game changing sum of money.

"People usually recognise the importance of hospitals and air ambulances when treating critically ill patients, but we are so grateful that WLS also recognises the importance of hospital helipads in allowing immediate access to the care that trauma patients urgently need and which increases their chance of survival and recovery.

“If there are others thinking about making a will, we would be grateful if they could choose WLS because not only will they be planning for their future but could also help to save lives in the process.”

The HELP Appeal has helped to build or upgrade 20 helipads across the country with over 7,000 landings on appeal-funded helipads to date.