Donations, including £40,000 from The David Snowdon Trust, have allowed a team of dedicated volunteer doctors which carries out life-saving work in Cumbria to buy a new emergency response vehicle.
BEEP Doctors (BASICS Cumbria) has taken possession of a Volvo XC60, which will be based in the north of the county, serving the Penrith and Carlisle area.
“This enhancement to our fleet, increasing our vehicles from three to four, marks a major milestone for the BEEP Doctors and will make a life-saving difference in the northern part of the county,” said Dr Graeme Spencer, Chair of the BEEP Doctors.
Cumbria’s 12 BEEP Doctors, who are all volunteers, provide enhanced pre-hospital emergency medical care.
They work closely with the police and fire services, North West Ambulance Service paramedics, the Great North Air Ambulance Service and North West Air Ambulance.
At incidents BEEP Doctors can carry out some surgical procedures, such as inserting chest drains; some can perform pre-hospital anaesthetics and all are able to administer drugs that
most road crew paramedics cannot, such as ketamine/fentanyl to give pain relief and allow fracture manipulation.
Many of the emergencies they attend include road traffic collisions, farm incidents, pushbike and horse accidents and medical emergencies at home and in public places.
Dr Spencer said that, until now, BEEP Doctors had a vehicle that covered the northern part of the county but it was also shared across other parts of Cumbria. “This new dedicated car will always be available for emergencies in the northern area, including Carlisle and Penrith, ensuring a faster and more reliable response when people need us most,” he said.
“Previously, some of our doctors relied on their own personal vehicles fitted with blue lights and sirens to respond to emergencies. While this allowed them to reach patients quickly, having a liveried emergency vehicle is a far safer option – both for our doctors and other road users.
“It improves visibility, enhances road safety and ensures we can navigate traffic and difficult terrain more efficiently.
“Having this additional vehicle means our doctors can reach patients more safely and quickly, ultimately saving more lives.”
The bulk of the funding for the new emergency response vehicle has come from The David Snowdon Trust, which donated £40,000.
David Snowdon and his cousin Nicholas Birkett, who both had food qualifications, continued their family’s grocery business in the early 1950s.
David, now 88 and retired, was chairman of JR Birkett’s. He spent his working life in Penrith with more than 50 shops in the area – Birkett’s bakers and confectioners – and employed hundreds of people.
The David Snowdon Trust was established in 1999 and supports recognised charities in Cumbria with special consideration to higher education, social needs and the arts.
Ruth Cayton, one of the trustees of The David Snowdon Trust, said: “I am a Soroptimist and I heard Dr Theo Weston, the former chair of BEEP Doctors, speak when he came down to talk to the Soroptimists of Grange-over-Sands.
“I was a consultant chest physician at a big hospital in Birmingham and I know how vital it is for people to receive urgent medical help in case of an accident.
“I think what the BEEP Doctors do is absolutely fantastic and anything we can do as local people to support them is important.
“I told my fellow trustees I had attended a talk by Dr Weston and learned more about the BEEP Doctors.
“David is keen to do what he can for Penrith and the surrounding area so we decided to give a donation to help BEEP Doctors to buy a new emergency response vehicle.”
Around £6,000 of the cost of the fourth car was raised by Tom Taylor who, just before Christmas 2023 and then aged 13, walked for 24 hours, covering more than 30 miles, while towing his kayak around the streets of Penrith.
“We are incredibly grateful to our generous donors in helping us strengthen the emergency care we provide to our communities, in particular The David Snowdon Trust, whose significant contribution played a vital role in funding this new vehicle,” said Dr Spencer.
“We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Tom Taylor and to all those who made buying the new car possible for their generous support.”
The BEEP Fund, as it was then called, was founded by Dr Weston in 1994.
Over the years it has grown from just three doctors operating in a 15-mile radius around Penrith to the current 12, who cover all of Cumbria.
In 2023 BEEP Doctors (BASICS Cumbria) was awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service – the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the United Kingdom.
In 2024, BEEP Doctors attended 232 incidents and carried out a total of 809 volunteer hours. So far in 2025 they have attended 43 incidents and carried out a total of 91 volunteer hours
It costs about £250,000 a year to operate the BEEP Doctors service, which relies solely on public donations and receives no Government or NHS funding.
