Our shop teams and volunteers are now getting used to our new way of working. Things are very different and they have all worked extremely hard to make the new processes as streamlined as possible. As well as adhering to all the necessary Government guidance relating to their own PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), they are keeping up with an enhanced level of cleaning and sanitising to make sure our premises remain Covid-Secure. 

A new way of working

Many charities have decided not to reopen their shops at all yet, so we are very proud of our retail teams for the contribution they are making - retail sales are healthy and our customers have adapted well to window shopping and the excellent 'personal shopping' service we now offer. All you have to do is ask for the item you are looking for at the desk and a member of the team will gladly investigate and find it for you if we have it! Alternatively, you can give them a call and if they have what you are looking for, you can arrange to pick it up later.

Supporting us by shopping online

Our Facebook Shops have been popular with a new audience of shoppers and is a great addition to the different ways you can shop with us - if you haven't already, visit your local DAA shop Facebook page and see what's available at a shop near you!

Our new eBay shop is also performing well and a recent gem fetched £120 selling to the highest bidder in an eBay auction which was a fantastic sale. You can browse our ebay shop from the comfort of your own home. There are some great items across a range of categories and more are added on a regular basis so make sure you check back and don't miss out on that special item! 

Our new donations process

We are pleased that our supporters have adapted to the new donation process which has been working well, but sadly the quality of items donated has not been so good and we have received many items that we cannot sell due to being unclean, damaged or incomplete.

This causes us two significant problems: firstly, we only have limited space available to store donations for the required 72-hour quarantine period and therefore, once our cages are full we cannot accept any more and could be turning away some beautiful items, secondly our recyclers have restricted the types of items they are able to take for us due to constraints within their own industry at the moment and so many unsaleable items have to be disposed of through the normal council refuse bins.

Regrettably, this costs the charity money - money which could be better spent keeping our helicopters flying and our paramedics treating those that need that vital critical care at the scene.

We are grateful to everyone who chooses to donate to us, we love to receive donations and there are often many hidden gems and beautiful items inside for us but we would like to ask our supporters to consider when sorting out at home - Can Devon Air Ambulance sell it? Would you buy it? or has this item simply come to the end of its days and is destined for the big black wheelie bin?  

Please read more about the items we can and can’t accept, or find your nearest Devon Air Ambulance charity shop.