ESSEX & Herts Air Ambulance is urging people across the region to consider volunteering with the charity this Volunteers Week (1-7 June) with many existing volunteers coming forward to join the call as new data reveals volunteers contributed over 56,000 hours last year, the equivalent of around 30 to 32 extra staff.

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance is on a mission to recruit more volunteers for its network of 12 charity shops in particular. There are currently 270 volunteers across the shops, with the charity looking to increase this to 330 by the end of the summer, particularly as shops like Eastwood are set to double in size in the coming months.

Mum Karen Drew (50), who volunteers at the Eastwood shop has joined the appeal. Karen started supporting the charity after her son Jacob was in a serious motorbike accident at just 17. The air ambulance was called and had to intubate at the scene, inserting a tube into his airway to help him breathe, and put in two chest drains, narrow tubes inserted between the ribs to improve his lung function. He was taken to the Royal London and thankfully was able to make a full recovery. Now 25, Jacob has just got married and Karen describes how they both feel they owe the air ambulance "everything". Karen has also re-trained as a nurse.

Retail volunteers like Karen come from all walks of life. In the Eastwood shop where Karen has volunteered the youngest volunteer is currently 17 and oldest is 85. No particular skills are required and a commitment from as little as 2 hours a week makes a big difference. Help in all forms is wanted with so many jobs to do from sorting stock and pricing to helping customers.

Vikki Gunner, shop manager in Eastwood, also started working for the charity as her way of saying thank you after the air ambulance saved her life in not one but two episodes of Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) a life-threatening condition where a lack of insulin causes harmful substances called ketones to build up in the blood. Living in a remote part of Tillingham, she never would have made it to hospital in time were it not the for the air ambulance.

Karen and Jacob on his wedding day

According to Vikki, volunteering is a brilliant way of gaining invaluable work experience especially for young people, or a chance to share skills honed over a career. For many it provides a confidence boost and access to a community:

"Volunteers are the life blood of our shops – without them it would be so challenging to keep everything running. So many people across the county have a link to the air ambulance – it's what makes working in the shop so rewarding as so many customers come in and tell us their stories – but you don't need that, you can make a link today by coming to support us. You won't regret it!"

Karen, who has been a supporter of the air ambulance charity ever since Jacob's recovery, said: "I know Jacob was one of the lucky ones. I'm so grateful to the air ambulance and pleased to do what I can to help. Working in the shop is rewarding and just good fun. For a charity that gets no government funding and relies 100% on donations to keep its helicopters flying, I'm mindful we all need to do what we can – we never know when we'll need them".

Essex & Herts Air Ambulance is a charity delivering life-saving pre-hospital care to critically ill or injured patients across Essex and Hertfordshire. Anyone interested in volunteering in one of the shops or in any way for the charity should visit ehaat.org/volunteer or phone the charity office and ask to speak to a member of the volunteering team.