Otter Garden Centre in Wincanton has announced the charity total raised during 2018 for charity of the year, Yeovil Freewheelers. We are delighted to reveal that the final amount came to just under £2,000.

How we did it

Funds were raised through collecting tins at the tills and four door collections manned by members of the Freewheelers. Additionally, customers donated generously into buckets next to the extremely popular animated reindeer display that ran during the Christmas period.

Wincanton Branch Manager Alex Provis says a huge thank you to all customers who dug deep to help us raise this figure. Every penny counts for this local charity. The Wincanton team are delighted to have been able to support them with this donation.

There’s more good news for the Freewheelers too, as the Wincanton team is continuing to support them as charity of the year throughout 2019.

The charity

Yeovil Freewheelers EVS is the oldest operational blood bike group in the UK. It provides a unique out-of-hours free courier service carrying urgently needed medical items. These include blood, medical notes, medicines and biological samples between different hospitals and patients in their homes. The ‘blood bikes’ serve the South Somerset and North Dorset areas.

It costs a minimum of £35,000 a year to maintain the free service to the NHS. This is provided by support from the public and local businesses.

To find out more about Yeovil Freewheelers, click here.