Devon Air Ambulance has 19 charity shops in communities across Devon, which are very well-supported by our fantastic volunteers, customers and generous donors. 

In light of ongoing development regarding the Coronavirus and following advice from Public Health England, our shops closed on March 20th to minimise the spread of the virus.

The closure means that our shops aren't currently staffed so we cannot receive your donations until we open once the danger to health has passed. 

Please don't leave any donations outside our shops for now as they won't reach us until we reopen. Any donations left outside our shops until then will likely be disposed of by the local cleansing authority.

But there are ways you can still help...

Having a bit of a sort out?

During our collective quarantine, a great many of us have spent a lot more time at home. Lots of us are using that time to work remotely, home school and occupy young children, and maybe even to tackle some of the backlog of jobs that have been on the to-do list - possibly for a while!

If you do find the garage needs clearing out and the wardrobe sorting along with the toys, books and films, then why not put aside those pre-loved items to donate to us once we open our shop doors again?

If you would like a little more information about the kind of items we would love to receive and those we can't accept then please read more about donating items.

Turn donations into funds with Ziffit

Did you know you can also turn your pre-loved items into charitable funds?

Virgin Money Giving has partnered with online buyer Ziffit to give fundraisers and donors a quick and easy way to raise funds that won't cost the donor or fundraiser a penny.

Ziffit is a free web service that instantly values books, games, DVDs and CDs and generates cash quickly – which can be donated directly to a fundraisers page. Find out more about it.

How else can I help in the meantime?

At the moment we're not sure for how long our shops will be closed, but as you can imagine a lot of our income streams, such as fundraising events, lottery sign ups and box collections, have been interrupted.

But you can still support us, even while we are closed in the short term. Here are a few ideas:

• Think creatively about how you can fundraise from home. Maybe you've set yourself a knitting challenge, or are running a marathon on your treadmill? 
• If you have been saving money on your usual commute or for your regular coffee or your usual haircut and you are able to work from home, perhaps consider donating part of your saving to help keep Devon's critical care crews responding instead?
• A regular gift really does make a big difference to our patients. While we are operating slightly differently due to the pandemic, our critical care cars are still getting to those who most need us. Would you be willing to set up a direct debit securely online to help them along?

We always welcome new people who are happy to donate their time and skills to the charity, although for now to protect our volunteers we have stood down all activities that they usually help with, which include supporting our fundraising events, working in our shops, box collecting and much more. 

However, when it is safe to do so, we will be getting all of our usual activities back underway, so we would absolutely welcome your kind support. You can register your interest in becoming a volunteer in the meantime here.

We are looking forward to once more embracing the activities that make it possible for us to keep responding and to keep saving lives and we would like to thank you again for your continued support.