Published at 11:30, Wednesday, 28 December 2011

We report today on how our old and unwanted clothing can provide a vital and much needed source of income for a service all of us hope we’ll never need.

The Great North Air Ambulance is a vital and much-needed emergency organisation, one that Cumbria can be proud of and one that deserves our support more than most.

In a rural area like Cumbria, with narrow country roads and winding mountain passes such a service is vital to get the sick and injured to hospital as quickly and safely as possible.

Times are tight for all of us and there are few pennies to be spared, however good a cause may be.

Some of the major, nationwide charities have already made gloomy financial forecasts for the year ahead.

It costs the Great North Air Ambulance £4 million a year to operate.

Not a massive amount of money in the great scheme of things, but a hell of a lot to raise in such a sparsely populated county as ours.

Big-hearted Cumbrians are constantly collecting cash for the service through sponsored events and fundraisers, but by collecting second hand clothes that would otherwise be heading for the bin or recycling centre, they can raise hundreds of thousands of pounds more money.

It’s a simple and smart idea and one we can all play a part in without costing us a penny.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk