A Cumbrian woman has raised around £120,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance by recycling clothing for 20 years.
Ann Dixon, 61, of Arlecdon, was inspired to support the air ambulance service after the relative of someone she knew required the help of the charity.
This led to her collecting unwanted clothing from her neighbours and donating it to the charity’s recycling team.
She said: “I was originally from Penrith before moving to the west.
“At the time I wasn’t well and a lady looked after my health but eventually over the years I improved. Her son wanted to be a professional mountain biker and was mountain biking in Whinlatter Forest when he fell head over heels on his push bike and was airlifted by the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
“I am a big believer of giving back and on behalf of what she did for me I wanted to support the air ambulance.
“I started the collection with neighbours handing me bags and I have a best friend who is a private carer who looks after the older generation, so when people passed away and had clothes to donate or they were having a clear out, they gave the clothes to me and it continued from there.”
Mrs Dixon would advertise the collections in her local area and use her own car to pick up bags of clothes, come rain or shine, and store them at her home ready to be picked up by the charity’s recycling team.
She said: “I would go out in all weathers, there were times where I’d be covered in snow, or soaked through from the rain, including the bags, and then have to dry everything in them.
“I’ve met some fantastic people including a lady who does marathons to raise money for the air ambulance. My husband helped me with the collections, and after we put an extension on our house 18 years ago we were able to store 100 bags in the attic and then the rest went round the house.”
Mrs Dixon hosted collections four times a year for 20 years, but sadly due to an injury she has made the difficult decision to no longer carry on so she can focus on her health.
She said: “I absolutely love it but in recent months I’ve had a knee injury and it’s aggravated every time I lift the bags so unfortunately I’ve had to stop.”
In recognition of supporting the charity for 20 years, Mrs Dixon and her husband Stephen were invited to its base in Langwathby, near Penrith and met some of the charity’s critical care team.
She said: “My main inspiration for helping the charity was because the mountain biker is still alive because of the air ambulance, but we’re also big motorsport people and we’ve seen people involved in motorsport being picked up by the air ambulance so we know how important it is.
“It was a pleasure to visit the base and meet the team at the base and also see the helicopter take off while we were there. It’s such a worthwhile cause, so I’m hoping in the future that I’ll be able to help the charity in other ways.”
To book in a clothing collection, contact the charity’s recycling team on 01325 308 139, message its Facebook page or fill in the contact form on the website at https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/our-work/contact/
