The Wales Air Ambulance charity shop in Pontypridd is flying high after receiving a large donation of furnishings from a local housebuilder.
The charity shop on Taff Street took delivery of a multitude of items including luxury cushions, kitchen ware, ornaments and mirrors from leading housebuilder Persimmon Homes – the donations will be sold to raise funds to operate three helicopters across Wales.
Persimmon Homes had used the luxury items to furnish a show home on their Parc Panteg housing development on Avondale Road in Pontypool and, now that all 146 properties have been sold, it was decided to donate the contents to a worthwhile cause.
The Parc Panteg development situated at the former Panteg steelworks launched in October 2010 and has proved extremely popular with local families wanting to purchase a brand new home. The last few homes have recently been sold, with residents moving in in time for Christmas.
Sharon Robinson, sales director at Persimmon Homes East Wales, said: “All homes on the Parc Panteg site have now been sold so the furnishings needed to go to a brand new home.
“Our staff were unanimous when choosing to donate the items to Wales Air Ambulance which provides a vital service to people across Wales and is an extremely worthy cause.”
Wales Air Ambulance is the national air ambulance charity for Wales, providing emergency air cover for those who face life-threatening illness or injuries, and the aircrews are on standby for everyone in any part of Wales every single day.
As a charity the Air Ambulance relies entirely on donations from the public to fund its services and needs to raise £6 million each year to operate the three helicopters in the mid, north and south of the country.
As well as the shop in Pontypridd, the charity has shops in Brecon, Abergavenny, Bridgend, Cardiff, Caernarfon, Llanelli, Llandudno, Rhayader, Swansea, Tenby, Wrexham, Tywyn, Newtown, Cwmdu and Mumbles.
Mark Stevens, fundraising manager at Wales Air Ambulance, said: “We’re extremely grateful to Persimmon Homes for their generous donation to our Pontypridd charity shop.
“These items will make a sky-high difference to our charity and will help keep our helicopters in the air and saving lives all across Wales.
“We’re always on the lookout for donations of good quality furniture, clothing, bric-a-brac, books, CDs, vinyls and DVDs which will all raise vital funds for the charity.”
For more information on Persimmon Homes visit www.persimmonhomes.co.uk