Progress Housing Group has launched a new project in partnership with Furniture Matters to provide recycled furniture to tenants who are most in need.
Funded through Progress Housing Group’s Community Investment Fund, the Furniture Futures project will see items of furniture collected from empty Progress Housing Group properties once tenants have moved out of their homes, or from current tenants who have an item of unwanted furniture they no longer have use for.
These items will be completely renovated and given a new lease of life by the team at Furniture Matters, before being provided to Progress Housing Group tenants who have been referred to the project and identified as being most in need.
The project is initially available to tenants across Fylde, South Ribble and Preston, and has created a number of job opportunities, including a part-time administration officer, driver and crew member. It is hoped there will be further opportunities for volunteering and employment as the project continues.
Progress Futures Manager, Polly Patel, who manages the project at Progress Housing Group, said:
“We’re delighted to be working with Furniture Matters to deliver this project which will benefit our tenants who are most in need.
“Unwanted or unloved items of furniture or homeware can now be collected free of charge from one Progress Housing Group tenant and then be recycled and donated to another tenant to start making their property feel like home.”
Tammy Bradley, Deputy Executive Director at Progress Housing Group, adds:
“One of our core purposes is to support our tenants to live independently and enjoy a good quality of life.
“In collaboration with Furniture Matters, this project has created new employment opportunities in the area, and, over the next two years, will provide good quality, repurposed furniture to those tenants who will benefit the most.”
Furniture Matters, part of The Calico Group, is a reuse, recycling and training charity with shops in Blackpool, Morecambe and Lancaster. The donations and collections of unwanted household items, are extensively refurbished by staff and volunteers, and provided at low cost to local people in need. Every item donated results in training people in new skills, creating local employment opportunities, saves items from landfill, and provides good quality reconditioned items to local people.
Sam Howarth, Head of Social Enterprise at The Calico Group, said:
“The project allows us to reuse furniture and white goods that would otherwise go to landfill, gift those items to those that need them the most and create new employment and volunteering opportunities as a result.
“It’s a fantastic partnership that will benefit local residents that we are extremely proud to be a part of.”