Charity begins at home

COMMUNITY spirit . . . pictured at the Pop In Charity Shop are, from left, Joanne Whitaker, eight-month-old Tyler Howe, mum Carrie Ramsden, charity trustee Frank Hilton and volunteer manager Lauren Jones

Pioneering shop raises money to aid Oldhamers in need

A PIONEERING charity shop could prove a lifesaver for Oldhamers who need vital help in raising funds.

And the first recipient has already been chosen with the shop raising £2,000 to buy eight-month-old Tyler Howe, who suffers from plagiocephaly, otherwise known as flathead syndrome, a helmet to help reshape his skull.

Not all NHS Trusts fund such treatment, claiming the problem is cosmetic not health related and could correct itself anyway.

Staff at the newly-opened Pop In Charity Shop are inspiring community spirit by selling donated items and using the proceeds to dish out grants to residents in need of aid.

John Michael, one of the trustees, has provided the Huddersfield Road shop rent-free and it’s staffed by volunteers. A board of eight trustees will meet once a month to decide where the money raised will go.

Surplus money will go to local charities, such as Christies at Oldham, Dr Kershaw’s and children’s hospices.

After volunteers leafleted door-to-door to invite donations, the shop is now filled with clothes, CDs, DVDs, books, shoes, toys, and bric a brac.

Frank Hilton, one of the trustees, said: “The purpose is to support Oldhamers by buying medical equipment where all other funding sources have run out. If people are ill and need equipment they can’t afford themselves then contact us.

“There’s only one other similar shop in the whole of Great Britain, in Hackney in London, that takes from the community to put back into the community.

“It’s been amazing. It started with a small presence on Facebook. We then put a sign up at the shop and people have just been walking in with bags of goods.”

Frank suffered a horrific accident 20 years ago when he fell down a car inspector’s pit and hit his back on a pallet leaving him with a collapsed vertebra and damaged discs.

He said: “The fact that nothing was available for me when I had my accident has inspired me. I needed a wheelchair for two years and needed to beg and scrape £300 together to buy it.”

Tyler, who recently moved to Ashton with parents Carrie Ramsden and James Howe, has been wearing his new helmet for nearly three months.

His aunt Joanne Whitaker said: “The charity has been a really big help and we’d be stuck without them.”

The trustees are looking to get celebrities involved in an official opening in January. The shop is open seven days a week, from 10am to 5pm, and 11am to 4pm on Sundays, and is looking for volunteers. To contact the shop call 0161-624 4357.