The long-awaited helipad was opened at Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Tuesday after three planning applications, £66,000 raised by our readers, and more than two years' waiting.

The Lynn News launched the appeal to raise the £66,000 needed for the project in July 2005 when approached by the East Anglian Air Ambulance, and readers did not disappoint, raising the money needed in every way from a Christmas swim to plane rides and carol singing.

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At the time of the launch, Lynn News editor Malcolm Powell said: "We did not think twice when approached by the Air Ambulance team. This is a tremendously important appeal for all in our area – one which could ultimately save lives."

The road to completion has not been a smooth one. Changes in a possible site, forced by hospital needs and planning issues, led to a potential extra cost of around £150,000 needed get the project under way. It was then decided that this money would not be needed and a site that had been previously discussed would be used.

The helipad is now situated on a spare piece of land within the hospital grounds, near a car park for disabled people.

The helipad, which is floodlit for 24-hour use, and purpose-built to be compatible with all sizes of helicopter, is only the second in East Anglia. Once diggers moved in, it took four months to complete.

Managers and representatives from companies who have assisted the project gathered to see Mr Powell help cut the ribbon and declare the helipad open for use.

"We wish to thank not only the readers who came up with a multitude of different fundraising events, but also all the companies and staff who provided materials, labour and in some cases, both. There have been delays in progress, but that's life," he said.

Interim chief executive of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mrs Rowena Barnes, who joined Mr Powell in cutting the ribbon, said: "The helipad will undoubtedly save lives. It will not just be used by this hospital but as a base for all other hospitals in the surrounding areas. It is a fantastic achievement for the readers of the Lynn News, the hospital and all the companies involved."

Mr Alan Cornish, training manager for the National Construction College at Bircham Newton, whose students completed much of the work, said: "It is not just rewarding for the community but for our students too. Projects completed by them at the college are normally broken up and taken away but it is fantastic for them to see something they have produced that is both functional and permanent."

Mr Dave Bennett, a paramedic working for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, who flew in on the helicopter for the official opening, said: "The new helipad and roadway will not only reduce the time taken for the patient to reach the hospital but also improve patient comfort.

"The grass we had to push patients across before the helipad was springy and uneven. The helipad is beneficial to the patient and it makes our job easier."