Kingsthorpe charity shops join forces to urgently appeal for more volunteers

A number of charity shops in a Northampton neighbourhood have teamed up to urgently appeal for more volunteers.

In Harborough Road, Kingsthorpe there are several charity shops including Air Ambulance, Oxfam, Age UK and Mind.

Ahead of volunteering awareness week (November 1 - 7), the four charities have now joined forces as they all find themselves in a position where they have a lot of donations but are in need of extra hands to process them.

Air Ambulance Manager Ellie said: “We are so fortunate to have such generous supporters donating to the Air Ambulance service, however we now need your help to sort through our wonderful donations.

“We have a range of opportunities for you to get involved in here at the Air Ambulance.’

Oxfam manager, Vimal Shah, added: “Our donors are very generous, and we rely on them, but we also rely on volunteers to make sure those donations reach the shop floor, and we need your help to do that right now.”

As part of the awareness week, people can enquire and take part in taster sessions, from serving customers, to steaming clothes to taking photos for an online shop.

Age UK Northamptonshire manager, Yvette Prior, said: “We were thrilled to open our shop in February 2020 and then we were struck by the pandemic, which meant closure for everyone.

“Since reopening we are very grateful that the donations keep coming but help is vital to enable us to prepare stock for sale, which in turn generates vital income.”

A spokesperson for Mind continued: “Volunteers are the life blood of what we do here - we could not exist without them.

“We are really lucky that we get such lovely donations but without volunteers we would not be able to take these donations in, ready them for sale, merchandise them in our shop or sell them to our amazing customers.

“We are a friendly team who are passionate about raising funds to help people experiencing mental health issues - something that is so prevalent at the moment, and we are always looking for new volunteers to come and join us in our plight.”

The shops encourage anyone who might be interested in volunteering to get in touch, as it could be a way to ‘unlock new potential, meet new people andhelp raise vital funds that make a difference at the same time’.

Parish Councillor, Mamun Ali, added: “This is a lovely community, and the shops and people are the heart of it.

“It would be amazing to see people of other parts of Northampton spend time and help these wonderful charity shops and their causes.”

To find out more about how you can volunteer, contact each shop directly on the numbers below:

Air Ambulance 01604 714581

Oxfam 01604 722529

Age UK Northamptonshire 01604 714568/611200

Mind 01604 720999

Red Cross 01604 791408