00:00I'm Andrew, Andrew Pallister, and I've started up Wings Community Support.
00:05Tell me a little bit about Wings Community Support and where we are.
00:08So Wings Community Support is a Hampshire-based non-profit organisation.
00:13Where we are today is our first shop, and we're hoping to have more.
00:18And it's a 100% profit donated shop where we're going to hopefully raise money
00:24for anyone that needs it in disability or youth projects across the whole of Gosport and Hampshire.
00:28So we're here in Nobes Avenue in Gosport.
00:33Tell me what the reaction's been like since you've opened.
00:35It's been amazing.
00:36I think overwhelming might be too much of an easy thing to say,
00:41but it's just made me smile.
00:43The support today has been brilliant.
00:45And I think it's not just me.
00:47The customers, the people coming in, they're coming in and they're leaving just full of joy.
00:52And I love it.
00:53It's really what I wanted to do, and it's only been a couple of days.
00:56So what we're going to do after time is going to be really exciting.
01:00What are the future plans?
01:02So the future plans are to grow more shops to grow more income.
01:06I've been involved in charities for over 20 years.
01:08So the more shops, the more income, the more people we can help.
01:14We're going to be hopefully giving some money, or not some money, but some support via money
01:19to people at our first batch in March 2026.
01:22And that will be open for people that are either disability, need some equipment,
01:27or groups that need it, and they can go on our website and apply for anything they need.
01:34Anything really.
01:34And we're open to it.
01:36And whatever money we've got available, we'll try to support as many campaigns as we can.
01:41So are you looking for people to donate items to the shops as well?
01:44Yeah, we are.
01:45So one thing, I've been working in a charity shop for so long.
01:48One thing I think that really will make a difference is that we want to say yes every time.
01:53So many people come to charity shops now, and I think since COVID it got worse,
01:58but they come in and they get told, sorry, we're full, we can't take books, or we can't take that.
02:03And it's quite disheartening.
02:04People go off and decide they're not sure if they can bring it in.
02:07We're going to say yes every time.
02:08Apart from furniture, if you bring it in and it's cleaned, we'll take it and be very grateful.
02:12We want it to be completely 360.
02:15You come in, you donate your stock, and hopefully buy some barbies.
02:20And tell me, finally, what your opening hours are.
02:23So opening every day of the week, seven days a week, and it will be 8.30 to 5, Monday to Friday, 9 to 6, 9 to 5, sorry, Saturday, and 10 to 4 on Sunday.
02:34So tell me about volunteer opportunities.
02:38How do people get involved if they want to help you out?
02:40Well, ideally, they'll come in as customers and ask us, but we've got a website, we've got a very active Facebook site,
02:46and we are really, really keen on getting volunteers in for half an hour, or a whole week, or whatever people want to do.
02:53Help us make cups of teas, cleaning, start, get it out.
02:56But yeah, we really want to get the community involved.
02:58For example, we've got, you know, an environment in the shop, which is quite cosy.
03:01We've got an armchair for people to sit down in for people if they're tired.
03:05So we really want to just harness that social community feel that people can come in and relax, get out of the rain late today, and have fun.
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