A British Red Cross van was ambushed last week in South-east London (Monday 25 January) on its way to collect goods donated to the Red Cross. The Red Cross is currently collecting stocking for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

The van was stolen when a man flagged it down pretending a cat had been run over, before jumping into the vehicle and driving off.

The van (Reg: KD06 EVY) had just dropped off donated goods at a Red Cross shop and was on its way to pick up more when the incident happened. It was the only Red Cross van covering the London area and crucially needed to collect stock.

Charlie Mullins, MD of Pimlico Plumbers, said:
"When I heard about this I couldn't believe that someone would stoop so low, especially considering the desperate situation the people of Haiti are in at the moment."

Charlie offered the Red Cross one of his vans and a driver to make the pick ups for the Haiti Appeal. Yesterday (Monday 1st February 2010) Pimlico's depot manager, 82 year old Eric Headley, transported 5,000 women's outfits from the Red Cross in central London to meet the charity's aid convoy on its way to the devastated island nation.
"People were very generous and according to Eric it was lucky he took our biggest van out because the load weighed a tonne," says Charlie.

"We were only too pleased to help out the charity and after the first successful operation we're on standby for any other loads that may need to be moved by the Red Cross to help the stricken Island nation," says Charlie.

The Red Cross desperately need donations for the Haiti appeal so please drop off any items to one of their charity shops or you can donate by visiting http://www.dec.org.uk/donate_now/

Contact: Karl Plunkett on 07956 555 555 or karl@pimlicoplumbers.com
Natalie Cooper on 07956 262 522 or Natalie@pimlicoplumbers.com