About us
Launched with Lottery funding in 1996, as a furniture re-use project of Stafford and District Voluntary Services, Stafford Furniture Exchange has supplied essential furniture to those in need ever since. In 2003 it gained independent status as a registered charity and is currently the only organisation providing such a service in the whole of Central and South Staffordshire.
Working via a network of over100 Authorised Referral Agencies, the project deals with referrals on a daily basis (averaging 40 individuals and families a month) from every sector of the community. Each referral’s needs can be due to one of a diverse number of issues, including homelessness, young single mothers, women seeking refuge, those needing resettlement following long-term care, hospital or prison; elderly people on low incomes or in crisis.
From the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Borough Council and Social Services, to individual agencies that specialise in particular needs, such as the Mental Health Team, Age Concern, Women’s Aid, and the Probation Service, most furniture needs can be accommodated. For example, when palliative care patients require beds and upright chairs of a certain height, enabling them to be discharged from hospital without delay. Helping disadvantaged people in local community with their basic needs the service provides a vital resource that allows them to improve their quality of life.
In addition to the primary object of alleviating hardship, the project is also concerned with the provision of work experience and training for the volunteers including work placements for trainees from a local training agency. The project also, as a by-product, has an environmental impact by re-using unwanted furniture that would otherwise be destined for landfill.
The project is staffed by a full-time Manager and a part-time office administrator. We have a supportive Management Committee that comprises a wide area of expertise from both the private and voluntary sectors.
Because our office and warehouse are 5 miles apart, all the furniture
that is collected by the volunteers is digitally photographed at the warehouse.
It is then downloaded and catalogued on a computer at the office where
it can be viewed by clients. The volunteers then deliver the items chosen
to the clients’ homes.