£10 gifts left on ambulances inject a note of mystery for paramedics

PARAMEDICS are investigating the identity of a mystery benefactor who has left scores of letters containing £10 on ambulances across the South-east, telling crews they are “awesome”.

Ambulance crews in London and Surrey have discovered dozens of the notes in recent weeks attached to their vehicles offering kind words of thanks and up to £10 in cash or vouchers to spend on “coffee and doughnuts”.

Notes of thanks from the public are quite common for emergency service workers, but managers and staff at the London Ambulance Service (LAS) and South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) are scratching their heads after the professional-looking printed cards starting appearing on ambulances last month. The notes, some found outside the Royal Surrey hospital in Guildford, came in clear plastic envelopes marked “documents enclosed” and said crew were “awesome”.

Healthcare workers said they were surprised when they discovered the packages contained a card of thanks and £5, £10 or a gift voucher. Paramedics had been left “touched” by the cards and had attempted to track down the donor to express their thanks, said a spokesperson for SECAMB.

It is thought the cards are being left by employees of a family-owned firm in the region, but that they want to remain anonymous. SECAMB added that crew thought the cards were being left by people who were upset workers had been abused by members of the public objecting to ambulances on emergency calls parking in front of driveways. Other notes were reportedly found Camberwell, south London, and in elsewhere in the capital. LAS said cards from the benefactor were among the 300 notes and letters of thanks staff received from the public each month.

But the body faced criticism last night after it was accused of acting like a “Scrooge” by demanding crews hand over cash donated by grateful members of the public.