Shop launched in memory of York environmentalist (From York Press)

Shop launched in memory of York environmentalist

8:30am Thursday 16th August 2012 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

A NEW charity shop has been launched in York to support a project which is helping to transform the lives of poverty-stricken people in India.

The shop in Lowther Street, The Groves, will raise funds for the John Lally International Foundation, which was set up in 2003 in memory of York environmentalist John Lally, who died in 1995.

Gordon Campbell-Thomas, Project Advisor to the foundation, has returned to York after eight years of working out in India to open the shop, called It's Donated.

He said the foundation was running a project in Ramnagar, deep in the Sundarbans, the home of the Royal Bengal Tiger.

He said: "It is aimed at providing health, education, and employment opportunities for very poor people who are affected by severe flooding every year during the monsoon.

"The foundation is working with local partners to bring about a transition in the lives of thousands of people.

"We are all connected, no matter how far away. I believe that everyone deserves the same opportunities we take for granted."

Mr Campbell-Thomas said he had worked in Tang Hall from 1988 to 2004 to transform the local tip into St Nicholas Fields Nature Reserve.

"By setting up the John Lally International Foundation in 2003, we have been attempting to bring about similar changes in India," he said.

"The charity shop will help to fund our work out there. Everything is donated, even the volunteers' time."

The shop is open seven days a week, from 10am -6pm Mondays to Saturdays, and from 1-6pm on Sundays.

Mr Campbell-Thomas urged people to donate unwanted goods, and said he was able collect items if people called him on 07927921450.