VOLUNTEERS are hoping to contribute up to £60,000 a year towards forces charity Help for Heroes with a new shop in Abingdon.

Kate Turner, 70, whose daughter Lucy Turner is the shop manager, officially opened the shop —one of the first in the country — in Suffolk Way, off Drayton Road, on Saturday.

The charity shop will be open six days a week between 10am and 3pm selling clothes, books, videos, DVDs and bric-a-brac.

Mrs Turner, from Twickenham, south-west London, said she had experience of raising funds for charity through her charitable organisation, the Kathryn Turner Trust.

She added: “I have got a charity shop in Twickenham and it raises about £60,000 a year for various charities.

“Help the Heroes is a very good cause. The Army, Navy and Royal Air Force do a fantastic job, and someone has to help the wounded troops and their families.”

One of the volunteers working in the shop is pensioner Doris Harris, from Didcot.

She said: “My grandson is about to serve in Afghanistan with the Royal Engineers bomb disposal team so of course I am very concerned for him. Help for Heroes is a wonderful cause and I think this shop is a very good idea.”