Oakham's air ambulance charity shop is already preparing to reopen next Monday
You can pre-book a slot to give any donations
Oakham's air ambulance charity shop is already preparing to reopen next Monday as it looks to make up for a huge shortfall in funding.
Their helicopters have still been going out on potentially life saving missions. That's despite the service nationally losing an estimated £2.2 million pounds of income.
Now the Oakham shop has started taking donated items again in pre booked slots whilst organising furniture collections too.
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 an opportunity to drop off their items in a Covid-secure way using a pre-booked appointment system.”
What effect has the pandemic had on the charity
The enforced closures of The Air Ambulance Service stores during the pandemic have seen the charity - which operates the Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance, Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, and national Children’s Air Ambulance - lose over £2.2 million in income, so these donations are a vital source of income for the charity to continue its lifesaving service.
Despite the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, to date 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.
“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% discount to be used in store this August 2021,” explained Gemma.