News and Events
SFE News and Events March 2010
News: The SFE secures a fresh warehouse from the MOD at Stafford on a lease agreement
The Stafford Furniture Exchange (SFE) is delighted to have secured access to a substantial warehouse through the kind offices of the MOD at Stafford. Hopefully this will enable the SFE to offer a better service to both its donors and those needing furniture.
By comparison with the fresh warehouse the SFE’s current warehouse is small. This has meant that it is often full and has led to the SFE having to turn down donations. A small run in demand has then led to the SFE running out of stock leading to disappointed clients going on an ever growing waiting list.
Hopefully with access to this fresh warehouse will reduce these difficulties although it will not eliminate them. Significantly the fresh warehouse means the SFE will be able to develop new lines of activity which the SFE hopes will be of value to its partners and fellow Furniture Reuse Organisations within the county.
Events: SFE PARTNER BRIEFING AND CELEBRATORY MORNING Thursday 25th MARCH 2010 at Site 4 MOD Stafford
On the morning of Thursday March the 25th the SFE mounted a Partner Briefing and Celebratory Event designed to:
- Update partners on developments at the SFE
- Celebrate the various achievements over the past year
- Enable partners the opportunity to see the fresh warehouse
- Offer thanks to those who have supported the SFE over the past year
Welcoming delegates to the event Colonel Turner, Commander MOD Stafford, confirmed the agreement of the MOD to lease one of its warehouses on Site 4 to the SFE. He indicated his hope that it will help the SFE enhance its service to the Borough of Stafford and its surrounds. He indicated he hoped that it would further strengthen the contribution the MOD itself delivers to the community of which it and the Military Units based at MOD Stafford are themselves part.
Colonel Turner with the Mayor of Stafford Mrs Jean Tabernor preparing to hand over the keys of the warehouse to David Brown the SFE Chairman
Thanking Colonel Turner and the MOD The Reverend Paul Thomas, Rural Dean for the Stafford Deanery of the Church of England, speaking on behalf of the Right Reverend Gordon Mursell the Bishop of Stafford, Patron of the SFE, reaffirmed the three objectives of the SFE namely to:
- Alleviate poverty by supplying reused furniture to those in need determined by their eligibility to income related benefits
- The development of people through creating employment, volunteering opportunities and work placement opportunities for those repairing their lives and
- Through the reuse of furniture and furnishings reduce disposal to landfill and demand on limited resources
Nick Malyon Operations Co-ordinator of the SFE said “I took on my role at the SFE having seen the impact that the organisation makes on the lives of many people that it serves. I have to admit to not appreciating the conditions that some people still live in until I worked as a volunteer for the SFE. As a result of my experiences I want to ensure the SFE continues to serve the community of Stafford in a positive way and I believe the MOD warehouse will help us do that”.
Nick went on to say “The confines of our present warehouse has restricted the amount of stock we can carry. Now thanks to the Ministry of Defence we have plenty of space enabling many more items to be stored. In effect we have gone from a tennis court to a football pitch in storage terms. You could say the SFE is at last in space and the sky’s now the limit for the charity.”
Delegates viewing the SFE’s fresh warehouse
Roy Dart, Co-opted Trustee at the SFE, outlined the enhancements that had been made to the SFE website by webmaster Peter Bradshaw and indicated that over the past year the number of visits to the site had doubled. He therefore hoped that the new features including:
- Monthly news and events postings
- Posting of SFEnews, the organisations intermittent electronic newsletter
- Illustrations of furniture supplied and
- An outline of who’s who at the SFE
were helpful to Referral Agencies and others regularly using the site
David Brown Chair of SFE and Cyril Moore Vice Chair of SFE explaining aspects of the upgraded SFE Website to Councillors Ray Barron and Ivan Jennings who supported its upgrading through the SCC Community Fund
Cyril Moore, Vice Chairman of the SFE explained the purpose and impact of the SFE’s recently introduced “Information and Connection service” developed in response to staff becoming aware that its clients often faced many issues and some were uninformed of the assistance available to them. Cyril explained “As the SFE doesn’t have a showroom our clients select their requirements from a computer screen which means staff give quality time to them and find out about their needs. As a result they, led by volunteer Alice Blagg, have developed an information pack structured around the 15 issues that most often arise in discussions with clients. In so doing I feel our staff and volunteers have added much value to the SFE’s service. Over a quarter of our clients are now being connected to other service providers who can help them to address a wide range issues.”
SFE Chairman David Brown with John Langford of the Rowley Trust and Cyril Moore with Helen Dart Chairman of the Staffordshire Charitable Trust and Nicola Edmonds of the Staffordshire County Council’s Closing the Gaps for Communities Fund discussing the SFE “Information and Connection service” information pack, the development and implementation of which they are funding
David Brown, Chairman of the SFE Trustees, outlined how he envisaged the MOD warehouse would be harnessed to develop the organisation’s work. He explained how it would help the SFE in its work with other Furniture Reuse Organisations (FROs) in the county so that, together, they could make a greater contribution to a society which is faced with taking its resource use much more seriously than it had done in the past.
Concluding the events proceedings David Brown Chairman of the SFE thanked all who had supported the SFE in the past year notably:
- The 350 people who had kindly and responsibly donated furniture which is offered at cost of maintaining the SFE service to the 500 or so poorest families in our community
- The many donors who had offered small but highly valuable financial donations to support the basic service
- Local County Councillors, who through the Staffordshire community fund, had made the website enhancements and local collection and delivery service enhancements possible
- Comic Relief whose financial contribution gave the SFE the confidence it needed to secure the MOD warehouse
- The Staffordshire County Council Closing Gaps in community fund who with the Rowley Trust, Staffordshire Charitable Trust and the very kind contribution from the Abbess at St Mary’s Colwich made the development and delivery of the Information and Connection service a reality and
- Stafford County Council Social Services team for their confidence in making work placements available to the SFE. Trustees, staff and volunteers have gained much pleasure watching them develop and all at the SFE sincerely hope that they will continue to develop and achieve their objectives to make a constructive contribution to society
Councillors Ivan Jennings and Ray Barron who supported a number of efficiency measures at the SFE through the SCC Community Fund with David Brown Chairman of the SFE
David then offered his personal thanks to all the SFE staff and volunteers who had come through a very challenging but very exciting year for the organisation. He indicated they had every reason to quietly celebrate what has been achieved and he hoped they were now able to look forward to taking the organisation forward.
SFE Work placements James Middlington and Susan Clapham receiving certificates of recognition of their contribution to the SFE from the Mayor of Stafford Mrs Jean Tabernor