Northland Emergency Services Trust

The Northland Emergency Services Trust, known as NEST, is a New Zealand charity. It was set up in 1988 to provide emergency rescue helicopter services in Northland. The trust is a registered charity with the number CC10801. Its rescue work now continues through Northern Rescue.

NEST began as a summer trial. It quickly grew into a 24 hours a day, year round operation. The trust describes itself as a charitable non-profit organisation.

In 2018, the government introduced a three region national model for helicopter rescue and air ambulance services. The regions are Northern, Central and Southern. In 2019, the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust and NEST formed a joint venture called Northern Rescue. The site says the two trusts bring more than 90 years of combined aeromedical and rescue helicopter experience.

Northern Rescue owns and runs the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopters and the Northland Westpac Rescue Helicopters. The site says the service has the same crew and the same care, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

NEST has a board of trustees drawn from the Northland community. The chairman is Paul Ahlers, who has been a trustee since 1999. He is also a director of Northern Rescue Helicopter Ltd. Other trustees named on the site are Tim Davidson, Murray Broadbelt and Brent Eastwood. Pete Turnbull is also named. He flew for NEST for over two decades and served as its chief pilot and chief executive.

People can still leave a donation or bequest to NEST. The site offers one time, monthly and yearly gifts. It says a tax receipt is sent for each donation. The site lists a phone line, 0800 2 RESCUE.