London Ambulance Service Historic Collection

Background

Established on the 1^st February 1915, the London Ambulance Service is one of the world’s oldest and largest ambulance services. We have a unique, long and interesting history supported by a large collection of historical vehicles, equipment and items which have been collected over the years. Our collection includes 26 vehicles, equipment, uniforms, blue prints, documents, books, badges, medals and other ambulance related items.

The vehicles in the collection range from the late 1800s up to more modern vehicles from the 1980s and 2000s. We have examples of ambulances from every decade over the last 120 years including a hand litter, horse carriage and ambulances from almost every decade.

Our collection is run and maintained largely by volunteers, many from within the London Ambulance Service, some of whom used the vehicles and equipment when they were in service.

 

Help us fund the Historic Collection via our partnership with the London Ambulance Charity

Charitable funding helps us undertake larger projects and improve the Collection as a whole. Support is needed to help with:

• Digitisation – To provide greater access and prolonged availability for the future
• Renovation – To restore and repair classic vehicles
• Presentation – To provide curated displays that can be shared more broadly with the public

London Ambulance Historical Collection – JustGiving

Working with us

We can work on long-term projects or one-off arrangements. Contact the Head of Historical Collections in the contact section to make your enquiry. We may be able to offer some of our vehicles for filming or hire. We can also provide historic accuracy and in some cases access to original documents and uniforms.

Alongside the Historical Collection team, our Commercial team can also support, particularly with the arrangement of long term services and contracts. Our Commercial team can be contacted via the contact us section also.