Life-saving charity appeals for shop donations ahead of reopening - The Leamington Observer

Life-saving charity appeals for shop donations ahead of reopening

Leamington Editorial 8th Apr, 2021   0

A LIFE-SAVING charity has opened its Warwickshire stores early – to give the community a chance to safely drop off donations before trading officially restarts on Monday (April 12).

The Air Ambulance Service’s retail staff at its stores in Rugby, Shipton-on-Sour, Stratford, Warwick, Atherstone, Cheylesmore and Nuneaton are asking people to call and book a timed slot when they can safely drop off preloved items they’ve been storing over lockdown.

Charity Head of Retail Gemma Ingram said: “We’re aware that our supporters may have been holding onto donations for a few months now, and with trading starting again next week, we wanted to give people in Warwickshire an opportunity to drop off their items in a Covid-secure way using a pre-booked appointment system.”

The enforced closures of The Air Ambulance Service stores during the pandemic have seen the charity – which operates the Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance, and the national Children’s Air Ambulance – lose over £2.2million in income.




But despite the financial impact of the pandemic, the charity has continued to provide crucial frontline support to the NHS by attending an average of 10 potentially lifesaving missions every day throughout the crisis.

Gemma added: “As a charity, our mission is clear – to continue to provide critical care and lifesaving support to the NHS – but to do this we need the support of people within our communities now more than ever before.


“To donate preloved goods and help our service, all people need to do is give their local store a call to book a drop off time, and for any donations received they will receive a bounce back voucher with 10 per cent discount to be used in store this August 2021.”

The charity is also organising furniture collections between April 6-9. To arrange these, members of the public are asked to contact their local home store.

Visit https://theairambulanceservice.org.uk/shops/local to find a local store and book a donation drop-off slot before the end of business on Friday (April 9).

Visit www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999 to support the charity.

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