VOLUNTEERS are needed to help man a charity shop set up by the family of Hampshire motorbike crash victim Wayne Howard.

The Wayne Howard Trust is raising money to provide advice and support for acquired brain damage patients and their relatives.

Although it is early days on the fundraising front, the charity hopes eventually to set up a specialist rehabilitation centre in the county.

The campaign received a huge boost when Southampton Mayor Dennis Harryman formally opened the trust's first charity shop in Church Street, Shirley.

Wayne's mum, Isobel Howard, said: "We have got more than enough goods to sell to start off with as people have given us lots of donations.

"What we really need now is some volunteers to help us run the shop, as at the moment we will only be able to open on Saturdays.

"This is our first shop but, if things go to plan, we hope to be able to open a second one next year."

Plans for the shop were unveiled in August, four years after father-of-three Wayne suffered horrific injuries in a near-fatal road accident.

The crash robbed the former Manx GP racer of his right leg and left him with terrible brain damage. Wayne, 36, who lives with his partner Tracy Goodwin and their children in Porlock Road, Millbrook, has made excellent progress since being flown to a top German clinic for treatment in 2002. Daily Echo readers helped to raise more than £30,000 to fund the trip, in which he received intensive physiotherapy and a prosthetic leg.

Anyone interested in volunteering at the shop should call 07986 352532 or pop in on a Saturday morning.