ARSENAL’S Theo Walcott dropped into town yesterday (August 13) to unveil Newbury’s newly decked out ambulance station.

The 18-year-old footballing prodigy, who grew up in Compton, came straight from Arsenal’s training ground to cut the red tape outside the station, officially opening the Newbury ambulance crew’s brand new home.

The station has undergone a major revamp thanks to the Vodafone property team, which stumped up £10,000 to pay for a new living area complete with cushty brown leather sofas and a smart new TV.
The team, who took time off work to complete the job, stripped out the entire interior, repainted it and laid new carpet with the cash, which was doubled by Vodafone.

Walcott said: “I didn’t get a chance to see the opening of it before but as I can see it smells new.
“I do a bit every year. Little things really just to support the cars. It’s a brilliant job they [the ambulance staff] do.”

In 2006, the Arsenal and England Under-21 football star became president of the West Berkshire Rapid Response Car Fund.
The charity raises money to fund the purchase and running of the rapid response cars, which are used by volunteer paramedics to attend emergencies.

Emergency resource centre manager for the south central ambulance service, Kirsten Willis, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. We have been so lucky. All the work that’s been put in over the last few weeks to have Theo coming down and opening it is really great.
“Obviously the staff do such a hard job, having somewhere to come back to where they can relax and just chill out after some stressful jobs is really cool.”

taken from Newbury Today

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