BOLTON families are celebrating after helping Manchester hospitals reach a £3.9m target to build a dedicated helipad.

The Time Saves Lives Helipad Appeal was launched last September and has hit target 12 months earlier than anticipated.

Led by Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Charity, fundraising came from individuals, businesses and community groups from across the North West and beyond.

Among those giving their support were the family of 16-year-old Danielle Rigby, from Bromley Cross, who was involved in a car accident at Easter 2014 which left her with a life-threatening head injury.

She was airlifted to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital via parkland one mile away from the site but an onsite helipad would have meant arriving at hospital much sooner to receive the life-saving treatment she needed.

Mum Sarah Rigby said: "Danielle is doing really well now and we are so thankful to all the amazing staff at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital who saved her life.

"We know better than anyone how important this Helipad Appeal is, so we are thrilled that it will now become a reality and other families in a similar position will get the expert treatment they need, as quickly as possible."

Funds raised by the appeal will enable the creation of a new 24-hour access primary helicopter landing site, the first of its kind in central Manchester.

Construction work is scheduled to commence in January, with the facility due to be operational by the beginning of 2018.

Located on the roof of the new multi-storey car park on Grafton Street, it will be connected to the hospitals by a high-level link bridge and roof top corridor, serving Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Saint Mary’s Hospital.

Collectively, the hospitals see over one million patients each year, looking after patients from birth to the end of life, from across the whole of the North West, and often beyond.

Among the donations was £1million from the County Air Ambulance Trust’s Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads Appeal and £1.1million from the government’s LIBOR fines funds in the Chancellor’s Budget.

Maurice Watkins CBE, Chairman of CMFT Charity’s Fundraising Board added: “When we launched the appeal last September we knew it was an ambitious target, so to have completed in just a year is a phenomenal achievement.

"Every single person who fundraised has played a vital role in securing faster and more effective transfers for critically ill patients of the future. "Together our supporters will be making a lasting difference to our patients and their families at the most critical of times, and for this, we cannot thank them enough."