An Arlecdon woman has raised approximately £120,000 for her local air ambulance after recycling clothing for 20 years.
Ann Dixon, 61, was inspired to support the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) 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 GNAAS.
“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.”
Ann 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 GNAAS’ 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 GNAAS. 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.”
Ann 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 GNAAS for 20 years, Ann and her husband Stephen Dixon, were invited to GNAAS’ base in Langwathby, 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 GNAAS, 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 fill in this form on our website, message us on our Facebook page, or call 01325 308 139.
Donations can also be dropped off on-site at GNAAS’ headquarters in the North East, which is Progress House, Urlay Nook Road, Eaglescliffe, TS16 0QB.
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