Team members: Retail

Hailing from St Austell, Allison started her working life as a one-to-one carer for people with mental health issues, and from there moved into specialising with people suffering from lung conditions. In her spare time Allison has dedicated herself to volunteer charity work, which ultimately led to a position as assistant manager with the Red Cross in Truro, and briefly as manager in Falmouth.

Moving to Cornwall Air Ambulance as a shop relief manager, Allison subsequently took over the running of the Truro store with the able assistance of some fantastic volunteers. She says the pride and dedication she feels in the lifesaving cause is immense.

Anna has been with us since June 2021. Anna’s hobbies include walking, geocaching, socialising, and playing pool. She has a passion for snooker, films and loves a good book. Anna also enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Growing up in St Austell, Anna has had a varied retail career since the age of 14, from Fosters Menswear, to an independent surf shop, to becoming a licensee whilst running a snooker club.

Anna started her charity career with the British Heart Foundation, where she worked for 10 years. She spent 18 months as a shop manager, then moved onto regional support manager for the clothing side of the business. In her last two years with the charity, she expanded her knowledge base and joined the furniture team. Whilst there, Anna helped to set up and open 13 new stores. This job took her all over the South West and South Wales.

Now Anna’s heart lies with Cornwall Air Ambulance. She grew up just down the road from the St Austell shop and now gets to see some old faces again, some of whom remember Anna from her early days working in the town as a teenager.

Joe started working for Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust in May 2017 as the charity’s Retail Area Manager, managing all of the charity shops operations and staff. Originally from London, Joe moved to Cornwall 12 years ago. She has extensive experience in retail and has been the Retail Area Manager for several big name brands including Animal for five years, Levi’s for four years as well as Ann’s Cottage and Debenhams to name a few.

Joe lives near Newquay and spends most of her free time enjoying beautiful Cornwall with her partner and young son.

Lisa went into catering when she left school, spending eight years as restaurant manager at The Old Custom House in Padstow and a further six years running The Galleon Restaurant with her husband.

After the birth of their two children, she became interested in childcare and spent the next 15 years at Padstow pre-school, where she obtained a Foundation Degree in Early Years Education. During her time at pre-school, recycling and re-using became very important, and shopping in charity shops a passion, leading her to apply for a position as an assistant manager with Cornwall Hospice Care.

Here she spent two years learning all about charity retail before fulfilling her goal of managing a charity shop in her hometown, when she started with Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust in December 2021, as manager of the Wadebridge Shop. In her spare time, Lisa enjoys spending time with her family and walking their two dogs.

After leaving school Lynnette trained as a pastry chef for three years, doing part of her training in Bavaria Germany. Once qualified she travelled to Greece to work for an English and Greek restaurant. The following season she went to work in the Channel Islands on a small island called Herm, three miles off the coast of Guernsey. She had a contract for six months and took just a rucksack but came back 16 and a half years later with a husband and two children. While Lynnette was there she was a pastry chef on and off between having children and she also helped to run the island’s three gift shops. She now runs the Bodmin cluster of Air Ambulance shops, the job is very busy and she loves the challenge. The cause is close to Lynnette’s heart as her son was airlifted in 2015.

Timon joined the charity 5 years ago after working at a supermarket. He wanted to make a difference to Cornwall, having called it his home for over 10 years. In his spare time, he can be found exploring beauty spots for photo opportunities, walking his dog, or enjoying his latest hobbies of gardening and online gaming! Timon loves his job and can often be found with a smile on his face – or perhaps you may even hear his distinctive laugh.

Born and raised in Hayle, Ian is a proud Cornishman who has spent the majority of his working life serving in the Armed Forces. Since joining Cornwall Air Ambulance, he has progressed from a driving role through to retail and finally into his current administrative position. The benefits of on-the-job training has given him a broad appreciation of the demands and needs of customers and donors alike. Alongside other team members he utilises this to best its effect, to provide a positive and memorable service.

Ian has wholeheartedly immersed himself into the Cornwall Air Ambulance ethos and is extremely happy to be serving the people in and of Cornwall. In his spare time, Ian enjoys the open road on his motorcycle along with paragliding around our fantastic Cornish coastline.

Ben’s role is to provide a service to Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust customers by collecting and delivering donations. His background is in theatre as he spent eight months working at the Minack Theatre and has also been involved in shows that took him across England and Europe. Ben and his wife moved back to Cornwall to start a family and while he is still interested in the theatre his most important pastime is time spent with his family.

Luke has lived in Cornwall all of his life and can’t ever see himself leaving! He studied IT at Cornwall College from 2006-2009, this included web design, graphic design, 3D model animation and computer maintenance.

After leaving and changing his mind on what kind of career he wanted, Luke started to volunteer at a social enterprise which would eventually lead into a retail role. After working for another charity for several years, he was able to come and work for Cornwall Air Ambulance. Luke says this has given him a huge sense of pride and belonging, and that being part of the of the charity has also allowed him to serve the people of this great county.

When he’s not working, Luke tries to spend as much time as possible with his partner and two children, either at home, out walking and exploring or a weekend away camping.

One of his biggest senses of achievement is being able to help others, being able to support people that freely give their time to volunteer and help build their confidence. He says this is so rewarding at a personal level.

Alan joined the team in November 2016 as a van driver. Day to day, he is in the van, driving around to meet people throughout Cornwall, collect furniture and deliver it to the store. Speaking to local people in their homes, he is often one of the first faces the public meets and can give information as well as an informal chat. He has lived in St Austell all his life, and has previously worked for a local removal firm for 13 years. Alan is a big music lover, and in his spare time enjoys local bands. He is also a member of the St Austell Band Club.

Mark joined Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust as a van driver in May 2019 covering the Camborne area. He previously worked as a driver for B&Q. In his spare time he enjoys surfing, karate and spending time with his Norwegian family.

Belinda has worked in retail for over 20 years, including working for charities such as Cornwall Hospice Care and Age UK.

Belinda says she enjoys the day-to-day challenges of a charity and meeting new people from all walks of life. She joined Cornwall Air Ambulance as it’s a people charity which is loved all over Cornwall, with exciting new events and challenges.

In her spare time she enjoys walking her dogs in beautiful places.

Giselle moved to Cornwall in 2016 and now happily calls it home, with no plans on leaving.

She has worked in retail since leaving school and worked at House of Fraser for most of those years as a Manager, she was also a Visual Merchandiser for Debenhams and likes to think she has a good eye for all things fashion and interior design, both of which she loves. Giselle says she is so excited to be part of Cornwall Air Ambulance and very proudly tells everyone (so does her mum) who will listen.

In her spare time, she enjoys escaping by exploring our beautiful beaches whatever the weather or season with long beach walks, and she is very slowly trying cold water therapy after reading about its amazing benefits. She also loves nothing more than snuggling up on the sofa with a good film, a cup of green tea and a packet of biscuits.

Peter and his family moved from Suffolk to Cornwall in 1997, after a promotion which fulfilled their dream of living and working in Cornwall after many holidays from childhood to now. He lives with his wife, son, one cat and two puppies.

Peter was a builder’s labourer for three years, then in 1985 he joined a local garden centre group. When their son came along Peter changed career and joined a furnishers, where he spent 21 years. He also had a brief admin job but missed the customer contact.

It was on a trip to the Cornwall Air Ambulance store in St Austell where he met and chatted to Graham, one of our volunteers. The two compared notes on past careers and he chatted to the manager about job opportunities. He joined the team as a Driver/Shop Supervisor in April 2022.

Peter says he is so thrilled to work with an incredible team of volunteers and staff, while helping to raise funds to keep your helicopter flying.

Outside of work, Peter enjoys walking around the countryside with his wife, son and the puppies, while the cat stays home and looks after the house. With a sprinkling of gardening, DIY and enjoying listening to music, he says the family are loving life in Cornwall.

Originally from Devon, Gary moved to Cornwall in 2016.

He worked for many years as a self-employed heating and plumbing engineer, and is currently renovating a 1930’s bungalow in St Austell.

Gary joined Cornwall Air Ambulance in 2017 and says he is incredibly proud to be part of the team.

Outside of work, Gary enjoys walking his three rescue dogs and exploring Cornwall, camping, paddle-boarding and kayaking.

Sophie has worked in retail since leaving school, and began working in charity retail 18 years ago for Oxfam as a shop manager and induction training manager. She started working at Cornwall Air Ambulance in 2021 as a relief manager for the west.

Sophie says she loves working in charity retail, no two days are the same and you get to meet so many different people from all walks of life. She enjoys helping people to shop more sustainably and ethically, all whilst raising funds for a much loved local charity.

In her spare time Sophie likes to get outside and explore the beautiful Cornish countryside and beaches with her two labradors.