Campaign taken to EU to save lifesaving charity £4,000 a year

The West Berkshire Rapid Response Car (WBRRC) charity is seeking to change the legal definition of an ambulance in order to gain a dispensation on paying VAT on new vehicles to bring the rapid response vehicles in line with other ambulances.
The chairman of WBRRC, Andrew Sharp, said: “It is ridiculous that a local charity which receives no government funding has to raise thousands of pounds extra to pay VAT on the cars it buys yet vets’ ambulances do not.”
The WBRRC is an independent charity which receives no funding from the NHS or the government and works to support the emergency services in West Berkshire and the surrounding areas. Since it launched in 2004, it attended more than 3,000 incidents.
Each vehicle is driven by a fully-qualified volunteer paramedic or medical technician who respond to emergency calls in their own time, often reaching an incident before the emergency services.
At current, for a vehicle to be given ambulance status and qualify for a VAT exemption, it must be used to transport sick or injured people or animals, must have permanently fitted ambulance signs to the front and sides and it must have seating to the rear of the driver for at least one attendant.
It must also have adequate door space for loading patients on stretchers measuring at least 2.28 metres along with permanent fittings to support the stretchers.
Yet, although the vehicles often convey patients to hospital and carry lifesaving equipment such as defibrillators and oxygen, they do not transport patients on stretchers and therefore do not qualify for an exemption.
The West Berkshire Parliamentary spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, Judith Bunting (pictured), is helping WBRRC in its campaign alongside barrister Anthony Hook.
The charity currently has four vehicles, three Skoda Scouts and one Volkswagon Jetta, and is responsible for ensuring that the cars are maintained as well as servicing and taxing the vehicles.
It now needs to raise £30,000 to replace the Jetta with a more appropriate four-wheel drive Skoda Scout and fit it with the necessary equipment. Mr Sharp said that the charity aimed to replace its vehicles every five years.
“We want our drivers to be able to jump in the car and know it’s going to start,” he said. “If it didn’t start because of an aging part, what could be worse when its being called out?”
It will be fundraising at the Christmas craft fair at Kintbury Coronation Hall on Saturday, from 10am to 4pm, and will also be collecting donations at Tesco Metro, Northbrook Street, on December 7.
People wishing to make a donation can also do so by visiting www.findmeagrant.org