Air ambulance volunteer’s plea after donations left nearby closed Northampton clothing bank

An air ambulance volunteer is reminding people that clothing banks are closed after several bags were left near to a Northampton donation station.

Richard Durham, who has volunteered for the organisation for nine years, found a lot of donations near the clothing bank at the bottom of Booth Lane South at the junction with Wellingborough Road, despite the banks clearly being marked as closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The bags were cleared up by the air ambulance within 24 hours of Richard reporting them, but he wants to make sure donors keep their items until the banks are open again so they can be used properly.

Richard said: “Clothing banks are closed because of Covid-19 and people dump their bags on the ground when they realise. Just dumping it is a waste of your donation

“The air ambulance needs support more than ever and clothing banks are a good source of revenue, but sadly while Covid-19 is going on it is just not the time.

“So if people could just hang on to the bags until the time comes that we can re-open, that would be great.”

In the meantime, Richard says if people want to help the air ambulance they can donate to the paramedics who are running a marathon at the Coventry air base on Sunday.

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