On 14 March Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) opened the doors to its second shop in the heart of Gloucester. The Town Crier helped announce the opening to passers-by during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
GWAAC is inviting local shoppers to come down and visit the new store, meet the team and grab a bargain. The shop is GWAAC’s biggest store to date, occupying the former Shoe Zone at 28 Northgate Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL1 1SE.
The charity is also encouraging the people of Gloucester and surrounding areas to donate quality unwanted items so they can be re-loved by the next person.
“Our new Gloucester shop is just down the road from our smaller boutique shop, which opened in December last year. It offers local people a full range of pre-loved items from gifts to clothes to bric-a-brac. And it sits right in the heart of a community that sees the value in buying second-hand goods, reusing and recycling.”
Ellen Watkins, Multi-shop Manager — Gloucester, GWAAC
More about the store
All items purchased will help raise vital funds for GWAAC which will enable it to continue providing a lifesaving service to local communities.
“The new shop will help raise awareness of the charity’s lifesaving work in Gloucester and raise much-needed funds to keep the crew flying and to ensure that they can continue to be there for those in need. I’m hoping, that along with our Boutique shop just along the road, it will encourage people to shop local and support their high street. It will also mean that GWAAC becomes a household name for the communities we serve.”
Jason Webster, Retail Manager, GWAAC
The shop will be open from 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Saturday. If you have any good-quality clothing, accessories and bric-a-brac donations that you would like to drop off, please leave them with someone at the shop during the day.
If you are interested in volunteering for your local air ambulance charity’s new shop, you can find out more by asking inside the shop or getting in touch with the Shop Manager at .
The new shop will be GWAAC’s fifth to operate within its region. As well as the nearby Southgate Boutique store, GWAAC charity shops can also be found in Cheltenham, Westbury-on-Trym and Yate.
About GWAAC
GWAAC provides the critical care and air ambulance service for 2.1 million people across Gloucestershire, South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire. In 2022, 536 people in Gloucestershire needed GWAAC’s help, making up 30% of GWAAC’s total missions. And for the first time in GWAAC’s history, 2022 saw more call-outs to Gloucestershire than Bristol in one year.
Each call-out costs around £2,000, and the charity is facing extra fundraising pressure with the cost of its helicopter fuel going up from £50,000 a year to £70,000 a year.
