Staffordshire charity store celebrates funding almost 500 lifesaving missions for children’s charity

The Children’s Air Ambulance (TCAA) charity store in Burton-on-Trent is celebrating funding almost 500 lifesaving transfer missions for critically ill babies and children across the UK.

The homeware store opened its doors on 13 August 2016 and is situated in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, a stone’s throw away from The Octagon Shopping Centre. Over the past eight years the charity store has generated an incredible £1,754,534.16 worth of sales for the charity, funding almost 500 lifesaving missions – enabling the charity to continue saving young lives across the UK.

The store has also received 31,277 bags of donated goods but continues to require support from the local community with further donations of new and preloved items, as these provide vital income for the charity.

The Children’s Air Ambulance is a national charity changing the face of paediatric and neonatal care through the high-speed transfer of critically ill babies and children – flying them from one hospital to another for specialist care via the clinically designed helicopters, which provide a flying intensive care unit for babies and children.

The charity works alongside 11 NHS Clinical Partner Teams across the UK, including CoMET (Children’s Medical Emergency Transport Team), a dedicated critical care transport service for children in the East Midlands – hosted by University Hospitals of Leicester in partnership with Nottingham University Hospitals.

Store Manager Steve Smith said: “We would like to thank everyone in the local community for their amazing support over the last eight years. We have raised funds to support almost 500 lifesaving missions and we wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

“We receive no government or National Lottery funding for our lifesaving missions, so please continue to donate new and pre-loved items and shop with us to help raise further vital funds,” he added.

To learn more, or to support the charity, please visit: www.childrensairambulance.org.uk or call 0300 3045 999.