Neighbours' ‘pop-up’ stall raises vital funds for First Responders

Two kind-hearted friends have raised more than £1,700 for the Albrighton & Cosford Community Responders after creating their own pop-up shop at the end of their drives.

Tracey Cooper and Nikki Poole came up with the idea of using unwanted household items to deliver a boost to the three-strong team of medically trained volunteers that have attended more than 1,000 calls in the last ten years.

The neighbours pooled together bric-a-brac, DVDs, children's toys and electrical items over a five-month period, dodging the British weather and managing their own work commitments, to deliver a massive funding windfall.

Using social media to advertise what they had to sell, the duo managed to raise a staggering amount of money that has been used to partly fund the new response car and vital equipment to save lives.

Tracey explained: “The responders treated my father when he was in distress, so I wanted to do something that would help them maintain the excellent service they provide for the village.

“I heard about them raising money for a new vehicle they could use and thought the easiest way we could raise cash was to hold a kind of ‘garage sale’ at the end of our drive in the village.”

She continued: “My honest hope was to get to a couple of hundreds of pounds, but we were at that target within a few weeks with local people really responding. I managed to get my kids to donate toys they didn’t want and then I asked Nikki if she could help with manning the stall and in finding more items for us to sell.”

Albrighton & Cosford Community First Responders used the money raised by Tracey and Nikki as part of a successful £30,000 drive to purchase a BMW X1, chosen due to its reliability, ability to cross rough terrain and the option for it to be modified to store crucial equipment, such as defibrillators, monitors, oxygen and airway management aides.

The car carries the full ‘Community First Responders’ livery and has the latest communications technology in place to ensure all calls can be answered quickly.

All of the volunteers have been trained to the latest national qualifications and work, on average, 20 hours each per month. They have responded to more than 200 incidents, covering cardiac arrests, blood loss, breathing issues, as well as dealing with falls, sprains and potential broken bones.

As soon as lockdown started, the Albrighton CFRs contacted the village chemist and offered to support the delivery of prescriptions to people who were vulnerable or shielding, initially doing two days per week before it quickly escalated to six days.

Dave Fitton and fellow First Responder Derek Mattinson also answered a request from the Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer of the West Midlands to undertake extra training, in order to support High Dependency patient transfer services to support the frontline effort during Covid-19.

“There’s not much else to say to Tracey and her friends other than a big thank you,” added Derek, who has been a first responder for more than five years.

“To raise that level of money is staggering and it has made a major difference to what we do and how we do it. It just goes to show what a great village Albrighton is and how people are prepared to put themselves out to help others."