Collections of unwanted clothes in a West Cumbrian community has raised around £50,000 for the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
Jordan Mattinson, 32, began organising collections of unwanted clothing in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and used Whitehaven Rugby Club to store the donations.
Over 10 tonnes of clothing was accumulated during the first collection, and this spurred Jordan on to continue hosting collections to support the air ambulance.
He said: “The feeling on seeing the clothes build up on the first collection was unbelievable, there were convoys of cars coming to drop off what they classed as unwanted items which gradually filled up the rugby club.”
Over the last five years clothing collections have been held at Whitehaven RUFC and Hensingham ARLFC, with members from both clubs helping out on the days.
Mr Mattinson said: “Without them it wouldn’t be possible, we’ve always had an abundance of helpers on every donation day we’ve done. It shows how much the local community values the service of GNAAS.”
Following their latest collection day in May, the total raised for the charity is about £50,000.
Mr Mattinson said: “We really appreciate everyone who’s donated over the last few years and anyone who’s shared the social media and news posts so people see when the collections are.
“GNAAS is a service that we hope we will never need, but if you do, you’d like to know it’s there. With it not being government funded, it’s crucial that donations like this carry on to make sure they can keep running this life-saving service.
“We’ll keep doing the drop off days and hopefully we can turn that £50,000 into £100,000 and more over the next few years.”
To book in a clothing collection, please contact the charity’s recycling team on 01325 308 139, message GNAAS’ Facebook page or fill in the contact form on its website at https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/our-work/contact/
