Devon Air Ambulance opens their 19th charity shop

On Saturday 10th July, Devon Air Ambulance (DAA) celebrated the opening of their newest charity shop in St.Marychurch which now occupies the building which was formerly the Snooty Fox pub. A ribbon cutting ceremony was kindly carried out by Mr Kevin Foster MP and his wife Councillor Hazel Foster who were also accompanied by young fundraiser Emily Warwick who was invited to cut the red ribbon that declared the shop open for business.

In May this year, Emily, aged just 7 Years old from Paignton, scootered and cycled over 50 miles to raise funds in memory of her grandad. Emily’s grandad, who was an active driver for Devon Doctors, was attended by Devon Air Ambulance when he suffered a cardiac arrest in September 2020. Sadly, despite the best efforts of the medical team, he passed away.  Emily, supported by her little brother, friends and family members raised an incredible £800 for the charity.

The new shop has received a very positive response from the local community and passers-by have stopped to chat with the DAA team while building works have been underway. The light and spacious interior boasts a huge range of donated items, from clothing and accessories, to homewares, decorative bric-a-brac, linens and a large bookshop which has already been very popular.

Pete Vallance, Head of Business Development at DAA commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to open our newest shop in Torbay.  St.Marychurch is a thriving precinct and we are very much looking forward to being a regular destination for people in the community to visit. Over the weekend we have spoken to many local people and some from further afield who have all given us a big thumbs up and a very warm welcome.”

The St.Marychurch DAA team is actively looking for volunteers who might be able to support the cause by giving up some spare time to help in the shop. If you have a particular area of expertise or if you would just like the opportunity to meet people and be part of this life saving charity, please call in to see the Shop Manager Brian or Assistant Manager Hailey at the shop. More information about volunteering can be found on the DAA website here: https://www.daat.org/Pages/Category/volunteer-with-us

If you have items to donate to Devon Air Ambulance, they can be dropped into the shop at any time during trading hours which are currently 10am-5pm Mon-Sat and 10am-4pm on Sundays. A full list of the items that can and cannot be accepted can be found here: https://www.daat.org/FAQs/a-table-of-what-we-can-accept