Oakham charity store celebrates funding more than 900 lifesaving missions

Your local air ambulance charity homeware store based in Oakham, Rutland, is celebrating funding more than 900 missions for the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance (DLRAA), as the charity celebrates 15 years of vital service.

The Oakham homeware store is one of two DLRAA shops in Rutland, the other being the charity’s Oakham Boutique store. The homeware store opened on 09 June 2017, selling new and pre-loved homeware, furniture, electricals, and brand-new white goods.

In almost six years the home store has generated an incredible £1,576,149.16 worth of sales for the charity, enabling the charity to continue saving lives at road traffic collisions, sports events, medical emergencies – such as cardiac arrest and accidents at home – and other incidents needing expert pre-hospital medical interventions.

The store has also received 218,182 bags of generously donated goods since November, which have provided vital income for the charity, but they continue to require the support of the local community for further donations of new and preloved items.

The charity receives no funding from the government or National Lottery for its daily missions and relies entirely on donations to raise the £1,700 needed for each rescue mission, where the Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance crews can be on the ground within minutes helping to deliver lifesaving care, to give the patients the very best chance of survival.

“We would like to say a big thank you to the local community for all the support they have shown us since 2017. Without their support we wouldn’t be able to continue to save lives across Rutland and further afield”, said Heather Boam, Store Manager at Oakham Home Store.

“We rely on our local community’s support with donations of pre-loved items such as bric-a-brac, clothing and toys to keep our vital missions possible and keep our crews delivering pre-hospital critical care 24/7, 365 days per year,” she added.

The charity is celebrating its 15^th anniversary of providing its lifesaving service across Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland in 2023. To help mark the momentous milestone the charity is asking for supporters to send in any photos, footage, clippings, or share their stories to help showcase how well the service has developed over the years into the leading provider of pre-hospital critical care it is today.

To get involved please visit: www.theairambulanceservice.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999.