Community Champion is one of the five pillars behind #MonsterImpact, and for the past few years it has included sponsoring the main fundraising event for the Arrive Alive, a charity that funds emergency response vehicles for volunteer first responders across the West Midlands.
Arrive Alive was set up by Debbie Roscoe after her youngest daughter, Ellie, became seriously ill with measles in 2017. Ellie has faced a number of serious health challenges since, and during some of the hardest days in hospital Debbie decided she wanted to put her energy into something positive. Her original aim was to fund one response vehicle for her local area, as a thank you for the care Ellie had received. That ended up being two, and when other communities started getting in touch asking for help, the charity kept going.
“When you hear how Arrive Alive started, it’s hard not to want to get involved,” says Tim Andrews MBE, Chairman of Hollywood Monster. “Debbie set out to fund one vehicle to say thank you for her daughter’s care. There are now 18 of them answering 999 calls across the region, and every one has been paid for by donations.”
How Arrive Alive vehicles work
The vehicles are crewed by Community First Responders, volunteers who are trained by West Midlands Ambulance Service and give up their own time to attend emergencies. They’re on the same radio system as the road and air ambulances and are dispatched following a 999 call, to incidents including cardiac arrests and strokes.
Because the vehicles are based in the communities they serve, they can often reach a patient before an ambulance can. In 2025 they arrived on scene an average of eight minutes ahead of a road or air ambulance, giving the responders time to start treatment while the ambulance is on its way.
Between June 2024 and August 2026, Arrive Alive vehicles attended more than 9,000 life-threatening 999 calls across the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire. The charity has also paid for 42 public defibrillators and 168 bleed kits, and offers free CPR training sessions.
All of this is funded by the public. Each equipped vehicle costs around £25,000, and as the charity receives no NHS or government support, every one on the road has come from donations, community fundraising and local businesses.
Arrive Alive has been named Charity of the Year at the Birmingham Awards, and in 2025 Debbie was a finalist for Fundraiser of the Year in the BBC Make A Difference Awards.
Supporting the Arrive Alive Gala Dinner
Hollywood Monster has been based in Birmingham for more than 30 years, and as a family business, much of what Community Champion means in practice is backing people and organisations doing good work close to home. For the last few years that has included sponsoring Arrive Alive’s main fundraising event, the Gala Dinner.
The gala is a black-tie evening and every ticket sold goes towards emergency vehicles and equipment for the charity’s volunteer responders. This year’s gala takes place on the 25th September, 6.30pm till late at the incredible St Andrews, home of the Blues.
“The responders are volunteers,” says Tim. “They’re giving up their own time to get to people quickly, and the charity needs a steady flow of fundraising to keep those vehicles on the road and equipped. The gala is always a great night, and we’re proud to have been part of it for as long as we have.”
Tickets for the gala and details on how to donate are on the Arrive Alive website at arrivealiveresponse.co.uk.
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