Press Release
Date 03/02/10
Making a difference with re-use
Action 21 are now working in partnership with a leading Midlands-based housing association to help kit out 15 homes for first-time tenants with furniture to make their house a home.
Many of us are aware of the environmental benefits of recycling and re-using furniture, but for Orbit Heart of England there’s a huge social benefit too.
“It’s going to make a massive difference,” says Mark Howell a Support Provision Manager with the association. “Lots of our customers have absolutely nothing - they’ve been street homeless and just have the clothes they’re wearing. We’ve historically applied for grants for furniture, but new furniture is expensive and grants are harder and harder to secure. It’s a good way to get furniture cheaply, and we’re also proud to support recycling.”
Action 21 will be supplying Orbit with 15 sets of furniture for new tenants over the coming months. The packages will consist of all the essentials plus a couple of items to help turn an empty room into a cosy home. A typical set might include: sofa, armchair, dining table with four chairs, double bed base, wardrobe, bedside cabinets, coffee table, TV unit and a chest of drawers. And all of this will cost Orbit Heart of England just £200.
“People will be really pleased,” says Mark. “Any grants that we managed to secure in the past have been for really basic things, but with Action 21’s packages we can also get the little things like coffee tables that make a place more homely.”
A while ago on our blog (action-21.blogspot.com), we pondered whether it’d be possible to kit out an entire household from the Action 21 re-use shops. Now it seems that theory is being tried out.
The good news is that Action 21’s re-use schemes are open to everybody. Action 21 would be pleased to hear from other Landlords operating in the area. And of course all members of the public can come down to the Recycle Warehouse or the Re-Useful Centre during opening hours to find all the furniture they might possibly need.
Come down to the Recycle Warehouse on Princes Drive (open 10am-4pm, Monday-Sunday, tel: 01926 426369) or Re-Useful Centre on Ramsey Road (open 10am-4pm, Friday-Sunday, tel: 01926 453030) to see for yourself.
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