The Children’s Air Ambulance shop opens

Childrens Air Ambulance shop
The Children’s Air Ambulance shop was completing the fitting of the shop  over the weekend.
Childrens Air Ambulance shop
The window displays look smart – like a boutique.
Childrens Air Ambulance shop
On Monday the shop opened. It uses the premises previously used by Outdoor Traders.

The Children’s Air Ambulance is an air ambulance charity that transfers critically ill children from hospitals to specialist paediatric centres.

29 thoughts on “The Children’s Air Ambulance shop opens

  1. Amanda

    We went to a meeting on Monday for the BID. It was supposed to be a ‘meet and greet’ session but to be honest it got a bit heated, as some traders want to know what they are getting for their money. What astounded me, was the BID saying, ‘you tell us what we can do, what ideas have you got’. Surely the point of paying the BID is for them to establish what needs to be done and do it! We are all busy business owners, I don’t expect to be told that the reason nothing is being done is because we, as business owners, haven’t been telling them what to do. The debate continued but we left them to it, it was going round in circles, a pointless exercise.

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  2. Janet

    A charity shop is a good way of making money. Most charities will only accept direct debits which a lot of people including myself do not want to do.

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  3. Peter Del

    Another reason for people from out of town not to visit Abingdon to shop.
    I agree with Janet. Charity workers knock at my door, but won’t take a cheque or cash.

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  4. Kelly Simpson

    I like charity shops and will actively visit a town that has a lot of good ones. I regularly holiday on the south coast and visit Chichester and Bognor for the charity shops, then may eat and use other shops there. Am told Bognor has 39 charity shops – haven’t found them all yet!

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  5. Lyle Lanley

    I think you are in the minority Kelly.

    Sadly a charity shop in one of the largest, most prominent positions in town, does nothing for Abingdon other than confirm its continued decline 🙁

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  6. Hester

    Whenever I go to other towns I am reminded that this NOT an Abingdon- specific problem, it is the same pretty much everywhere. I was in York earlier this month – tourist shops were thriving (both tat and upmarket) but most of the chains have either closed or moved to shiny out–of-town malls (surrounded by seas of cars). What is left in the centre is either boarded up or occupied by the same mix of charity shops and services (cafes, nail bars etc) as we have here.
    Re charity shops, I am trying to think of them as recycling places – there are some really good “pre-loved” things in there so maybe we don’t need to buy everything new.

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  7. Deedee

    When is a charity shop not a charity shop? I ask this question because it was put to me today while having my coffee. My thoughts on the subject is that a charity shop sells goods that have been donated to them? However, looking in the window of this new shop I’m surprised to see many many brand new items, hand bags, scarfs and even shoes, problem being is that this “charity “ shop that’s now selling new goods in direct competition with independent retailers, but have the unfair advantage of not paying full business rates, vat and is staffed by volunteers!
    Hum !

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  8. The real another Steve

    The trading arms of these charities, which the shops are run by, have to pay full rates and VAT if they are big enough. You could say that getting people to volunteer is a social service.

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  9. ppjs

    Deedee: I’m just guessing, maybe the brand new stock to which your refer consists of unwanted Christmas presents 😉

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  10. Julia

    A charity shop exists to raise money for the charity it is connected to. It doesn’t matter if the goods are new or donated. Some charities buy new goods and sell them on in the same way that any business would. It’s good to have a mixture of goods on offer. I thought the Air Ambulance shop looked bright and well-stocked when I visited yesterday.

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  11. Reductio ad absurdum

    It’s a difficult conundrum for which there’s no easy answer. What is better a charity shop or a boarded up unit? I’m pretty sure that only the extremely perverse visit a town specially to peruse it’s boarded up retail units but as we know from this very thread there are those who visit a town for its charity shops so from that sense charity shops must be the lesser of two evils. What concerns me most is the impact that charity shops can have on commercial rents. It seems obvious to me that a charity shop with limited staff costs and 100% markup on everything they sell can be financially viable with a much higher rent than the equivalent trader with staff and stock costs to consider. Abingdon commercial rents are already high compared to other parts of the country so why would an independent trader choose to setup here, especially when you factor in high housing costs? If charity shops are allowing commercial landlords to up rents by artificially creating a higher demand for units then it might just be the time to introduce some sort of rent control and zoning.

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  12. Steve E

    What is better a charity shop or a boring homogenised high street where every shop is the same as every other town?
    I’d take the variety in a charity shop any day of the week, not to mention the prices being more appealing.

    I think Abingdon still has a healthy number of independent shops with a few chains in the precinct. It’s not a bad mix. If the Town Council wasn’t so inept, it could thrive. I went to the meeting on Monday night and they couldn’t even get that right. There was a slight irony in so many people being locked out given that we had come to discuss the lack of civic spaces and use of the Abbey Hall
    .

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  13. Deedee

    Lots to get my head around here, I totally agree that a choice between a charity shop or no shop is s no brainier, but only on a level playing field as far as our cherished independents are concerned.
    Rents are an interesting subject not least because the precinct benchmark is set by national companies with a proven model, they do their demographic research from which they determine whether a location is viable, which begs another really interesting question? I’m told the rent on the exiting Wildwood premises was £85k a year, so if the Lounges company are moving in fully aware of that, what price are the empty Old Gaol units? Or to put it another way why would a company pay £85k a year for a place at the end of a poorly regarded precinct when presumably they could occupy a premiere site overlooking the river?
    Amanda refers to a pretty dire meeting with the management team brought in to run the BID, little wonder, as I under it the owners of the gift centre, Friends Jewellery and the kitchen door shop in Stert strert who were the protagonist of the BID and first directors of it took it upon themselves to hive responsibility of it to a husband and wife outfit from Newbury from Newbury who are refusing to hold an AGM or discuss where their £120k per year is being spent ?

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  14. Julian

    Regarding the Old Gaol restaurants, I don’t know how true this is, but I was told today that the owners are limiting any prospective new ventures to a five year lease. Now considering that they are not furnished with any kitchen equipment, it would mean that there is a massive outlay foe potentially only 5 years revenue!

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  15. Steve E

    Re: Lounges. Look here: thelounges.co.uk/pablo/

    Re: the Gaol. It seems obvious to me that the terms of the deal for the Old Gaol site must be so UNAPPEALING to the major restaurant chains that they aren’t prepared to take them on, either due to the terms of the lease of the proposed rent p.a. In other words, they probably won’t ever be let on those terms. The obvious question is why? It’s worth noting that the original planning notices for 1-3 Bury St showed multiple operators interested in the site (Wildwood, Bill’s etc). The design statement stated that demand for A3 restaurants was ‘very strong’. Pablo seem to have taken it on without a break in service, which supports this position. It shows that there is demand for restaurant sites which aren’t nearly as appealing as the Old Gaol site. So, back to the original question, why isn’t Cranborne letting out the Old Gaol units and why aren’t they moving on terms and conditions, especially given they appear to have cashflow issues? I’ll be first in the queue to protest if they try and change them into residential units.

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  16. Julian

    Steve E, I think that was the intention right from the start…”Oh look Mr VoWHDC, we have tried ever so hard for 3 years to let our lovely restaurants, but no-one is interested….can we please request a change of use to luxury apartments so that we can give you some of your money back eventually?”
    Watch this space….!

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  17. Dave

    Whilst everyone is here…any news on the 900 homes and lodge hill slip road in North Abingdon?

    Seems to have gone awfully quiet on that front since the planning permission was granted 6 months ago!

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  18. Hester

    All moving forward as far as I know: the County Council approved their chunk of the funding for the Lodge Hill slips in December. I believe there is to be some public exhibition/consultation about their design in the spring/summer and they should be on course for completion in 2020.
    I assume there will be a more detailed planning application for the houses but haven’t heard any more.

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  19. Daniel

    I drive over the A34 there, the back way to Oxford…the men in yellow were busy surveying this week.

    When in Japan they can repair a major road bridge in 3 days, or Dubai can build ….. goodness knows what, in a matter of months….it is truly astounding that a pair of slip roads in Abingdon will take years.

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  20. Deedee

    Hum?35 years have past since the promise of a second river crossing ? 8 years have passed since CH “bought” but has not yet fully paid for the Old Gaol? 5 years since the Upper Reaches was boarded up? 4 years since old Abbey House was boarded up? We may get to use the full diamond in about 2030, by which time we’ll all be using Hyper Links !

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  21. newcomer

    I haven’t seen the Guildhall meeting on Monday generally advertised.

    If you’ve a microscope and are an avid reader of the TC site you might have found:

    “A Special Parish Meeting was held on 15th January 2018 to discuss the Abbey Hall and the Guildhall. However due to space constraints not everyone was able to get in to the meeting. Consequently the Mayor offered to organise a meeting for those who could not get in. Please note that both the venue and the time of the meeting has been changed and this meeting will now take place at 7.30 pm on Monday 22nd January 2018 at St Helen’s Church. We are e-mailing those who have this week registered to attend the meeting, to inform them of the change of venue and time. We will have a member of staff at the Guildhall for anyone who attends there and the change of time should enable anyone who turns up at the Guildhall to get to St Helen’s Church in time for the meeting.”

    So, the time has changed and the meeting’s now in a Church … are the TC hoping for divine intervention? How many people know of the change of venue? Did you know? Last Monday I left my name to secure entrance for this coming Monday’s meeting, but was told they didn’t want may email address when I offered it. Good job I checked.

    Never mind, you can rush home from work grab a bite to eat and hightail it down to the Guildhall where someone will tell you to kick your heels for half-an-hour on a cold January evening.

    The kindest I can be is that it all seems a tad amateur to me.

    Let interested parties know.

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  22. Rees

    I’ve bought many things from charity shops and don’t understand why people would moan about another one opening up. Just as traditional shopping habits change so does the High st, It’s a nice brightly decorated shop. The staff, mostly volunteers are dedicated to change people’s lives who may need help.

    Reply

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