A BARNARD Castle charity shop is on the hunt for volunteers to help with a new scheme to ensure the charity makes the most of donations.
The Oxfam shop, in Market Place, is looking for volunteer drivers to help move donations between the charity’s different retail outlets in the area as part of a trial scheme.
Naila Laundy, shop manager, said: “We have lots of customers who donate items to us and we do appreciate it.
“The idea of the volunteer drivers is to move donations to where they are needed. For example, one shop may sell a lot of dresses while another may not and has surplus stock, so the volunteer driver would take it to them.
“We are trialling this scheme in our area, which comprises 24 shops including Durham, Newcastle and Keswick.
“All of the shops will be advertising for volunteer drivers.”
Mrs Laundy said the scheme was launched to make the best use of donations before they are recycled as a last resort.
“Ideally, it is for people who have a little bit of spare time and want to volunteer but don’t want to be behind a till in a shop.”
Drivers would need to have a clean driving licence and go through the same application process as other volunteers at Oxfam. Driving expenses would be covered by Oxfam including excess on insurance.
Mrs Laundy added: “We are still putting together all of the details of the scheme but there will be a supervisor to make sure all the right training is given, and we are not going to be sending people to Ulveston, but they may be asked to go to Penrith. We would also hope that these volunteer drivers would be able to help with pre-arranged donation pick-ups, but to start with I wanted to see if anyone is interested in becoming a volunteer driver.”
Shop-based volunteers are also always welcome, she said.
“We do have plans to open on Sundays, but we don’t have the volunteer numbers to cover the extra day at the moment,” she said.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the volunteer driving scheme or becoming a volunteer with Oxfam can pop into the shop to see Mrs Laundy. Alternatively contact her by emailing [email protected] or call 01833 631814.
