Scheme is launched to help families afford furniture

The County Durham Furniture Help Scheme will be launched for the Sedgefield area tomorrow.

After years of working in the community of Newton Aycliffe and Sedgefield volunteers have finally secured the funding to have their own factory unit to store furniture.

The unit will mean that furniture that has been collected can now be stored in a more accessible area thanks to grants from the County Durham Foundation and Awards for All.

The scheme is made up of volunteers who work tirelessly collecting unwanted furniture to store and pass on to families and individuals who are either on a low income or on benefits.

The volunteers have been in their new building on Chilton Industrial Estate since September and already they are reaping the benefits.

The project co-ordinator, Christopher Palmer, said: "We are all very excited about how the project has grown.

"The official launch is the culmination of a lot of hard work by the volunteers and their advisors. They should be very proud. We officially started in February and Sedgefield Borough Council gave use the use of three unwanted lock-up garages and we filled those without a problem.

"The new unit means that everything is in one place and it is easier to get to.''

The scheme started when Mr Palmer and chairman of the charity Councillor Vince Crosby, from Newton Aycliffe, realised that there was a need for the service in the area.

Coun Crosby, who will be performing the opening ceremony said: "For a long time Chris and I have seen social deprivation at all levels and we have always thought that there was a need to supply furniture to those in need. That is originally how the project started. We needed new premises and now that we have got that it hasn't taken long for Chris to fill it.

"In fact, we are looking for more volunteers who may be able to give us a few hours of their time a week.

"We are looking forward to seeing this unit grow from strength to strength.''