An open day will be held at the recently refurbished Axminster Care Service charity shop will be held on Saturday, April 23. 

The Mayor of Axminster, Cllr Jill Farrow, will officially reopen the South Street shop at 11am alongside other dignitaries. 

Axminster Care Service was formed in 1989, 33 years ago – local charity with an enthusiastic team of about 50 members, helping people registered to, or in the area of Axminster Medical Practice, receive the care they need. 

ACS fills the holes left by the Health and Social Services provision. Its local volunteers provide those in need with a range of services and aim to make life a little bit easier when things get tough, whether that's from age, disability, housing, or educational difficulties. 

The charity sponsors a range of programmes at Axe Valley Community College and Axminster Primary Academy, supporting the area's youngsters in becoming the great achievers they aspire to be. 

Should their parents not be able to afford it, ACS would hate to see schoolchildren missing out, which is why it provides special grants to enable them to take part in educational trips and for the supply of school clothing, etc. 

It also aids other local groups, such as local playgroups, churches, Axminster Foodbank, and many more, by providing funding for projects they are having trouble raising money for. 

With a substantial contribution from ACS, Axminster's bereavement counselling service ARC is now established at Axminster Medical Practice. 

ACS provides a comprehensive transport service to help local people get to hospital, surgery and chiropody appointments, who would otherwise not be able to do so – approximately 2,000 trips per year. 

The charity pays its drivers mileage allowance and expenses to cover their costs, while its team of telephonists are on hand Monday to Friday 9.30am to 10.30am, receiving enquiries and transport requests to which they allocate to available drivers. 

ACS provides a befriending/visiting service for emotional support, particularly in times of crisis. A volunteer is always on hand to help a member of our community should they need a hand with filling out those exhaustingly long application forms, for example, as well as to support people in with finances, by referral. 

The work of its volunteers is the backbone of Axminster Care Service but it also needs a substantial amount of money to fund the range of support it provides. 

Many of the people who use its services donate towards the running costs. In some cases, the donations are generous and more than cover the costs incurred. 

However, it is worth noting that a return car journey to the RD&E Hospital costs the service approximately £25. There is no public funding for this service, and it is entirely run by volunteers. 

A major source of our funding for the service is raised through its charity shop in South Street. Without this support, the service would not be able to run. 

The shop is manned by volunteers, with one paid member of the team who acts as shop representative.

The shop recently reopened after closing for some much-needed refurbishment. Following the COVID outbreak and the gradual return to work, it was acknowledged that the premises required a ventilation system to filter and purify the air, making it as safe as possible for our busy team of volunteer shop assistants and shoppers alike. 

A new shop counter has been installed, complete with new cash till and card payment facility. New carpeting has also been laid to the shop floor. 

The refurbishment also took in the upper floor, where originally there were three separate rooms. This area has now been made fully open plan, with a large work bench area to allow for the all-important sorting and storing of those most appreciated donated items. 

ACS telephonists have now moved from the ground floor to the upper floor where they now have their own purpose-made office area, and from where they can co-ordinate client requests for medical trips. 

Having been closed for two months to complete a majority of the works, ACS is pleased to have its shop open once again and is already taking in new stock donations. 

Its new shop representative, Alison Hayward, also acts as treasurer for ACS. Alison has been a trustee for several years and had been very familiar with how our charity shop operates. 

Upon deciding to make a career change, Alison took on the role with the aim of broadening the shop's appeal to a variety of age groups and looking at new ways of marketing and retailing the shop's stock items. 

Members of the Axminster community are welcome to join ACS at its shop open day on Saturday, April 23 from 11am.