Stoke Air Ambulance CIO: February 2026

Name and type of organisation(s): Stoke Air Ambulance CIO (registered charity no. 1162611)  

Fundraising method: Digital (Donation page); Digital (Social media); Events (Other) 

Code themes examined: Misleading information  

Code breach? Yes   

The complaint   

Stoke Air Ambulance CIO (“the charity”) is an organisation aiming to establish a functional air ambulance service covering Stoke and its surrounding area. The Fundraising Regulator received complaints about the charity’s online and face-to-face fundraising activities.  

We found there were potential issues with the charity’s online fundraising materials, including: 

• Misleading and unsubstantiated claims.
• Unfair criticism of other organisations.
• Encouraging donors to cancel existing donations to other organisations. 

What happened?  

Upon reviewing the complaints that the charity had received over a two-year period, we did not find there was enough evidence of problems with its face-to-face fundraising to consider this further.  

We reviewed the charity’s website in early 2025 and identified statements we considered to breach the code. The charity updated its site between March 2025 and May 2025, which resolved some of our concerns. 

During the investigation, we were contacted again by complainants who were unhappy about the charity’s ongoing social media use. We examined this and found instances where the charity had used misleading information to attract donors to fundraising events, and criticised other organisations. 

The complaints also raised questions about whether the charity could realistically achieve its stated goals. We did not consider these, because matters relating to an organisation’s charitable purposes and its wider running fall outside our remit. 

Our decision  

At the outset of the investigation, the charity did not have access to any aircraft or an established base to launch from. It also did not employ any clinicians or have the required approval from the Care Quality Council. We found that, taken together, the text and images on the charity’s website were misleading because they did not make it clear enough that the charity did not yet operate a functional air ambulance service. We considered that potential donors might reasonably believe their gifts would support a working service. 

The site also made statements that could suggest other air ambulance charities operating in the area were less responsive to emergencies around Stoke than to other areas they covered. The charity could not provide evidence to substantiate these statements. One page also breached the code by encouraging donors using payroll giving to change their donations to benefit Stoke Air Ambulance CIO instead of other similar charities. 

We received further complaints during the investigation about the charity’s social media activity. We found that the charity had claimed that it would fly or land an aircraft at local events, to encourage potential donors to attend. The charity also offered a helicopter flight as an incentive for volunteers to collect donations. At the time, the charity was planning to lease a helicopter for promotional use – however this was unsuccessful. We found these were misleading fundraising claims, since the charity did not have the means to fulfil these promises when it made them. 

After these events, the charity posted a statement on social media which asked for donations. The statement suggested without evidence that another air ambulance charity had prevented it from flying an aircraft to the local events. It also stated that the other organisation had intimidated the charity and had used its resources to deceive the public about where its own service was operating from. There was no evidence to support these claims. We found these statements were misleading and unfairly critical of another organisation. 

Code sections considered  

1.1. General behaviour  

1.1.3. You must not unfairly criticise or insult other people or organisations. 

1.1.4. You must not encourage a donor to cancel or change an existing donation in favour of a donation to another charitable institution. 

1.3. Informing donors and treating people fairly  

1.3.1. You and the fundraising materials you use must not mislead anyone, or be likely to mislead anyone, either by leaving out information or by being inaccurate or ambiguous or by exaggerating details. 

1.3.2. Before you make any direct or implied claim in your fundraising, which is likely to be taken literally, you must make sure that there is evidence to prove the claim. 

Our recommendations  

We recommended that the charity:  

• Stop unfairly criticising other organisations or making insulting statements.  
• Remove any historic claims that are misleading or unsubstantiated, specifically reviewing any statements which relate to response times.
• Make clear its progress towards its stated goals to any new or potential donors.
• Contact all its regular donors in writing, informing them of our published decision, to check that they have not been impacted by any prior misleading fundraising. 

Outcome  

The charity updated its website during our investigation to remove the statements we identified as misleading and removed the social media posts we determined had breached the code. It also updated its communication processes to avoid future issues with its social media fundraising. 

We also asked that the charity to contact its regular donors in writing to make them aware of our decision. The charity has agreed to comply with our recommendations.