A mother with two young children had managed to find temporary accommodation near Newport, Wales. When they arrived, all the furniture was a single bed: an adult and a small child’s bed.
“Happily,” said Nicola Rossiter, reuse operations manager at local charity Wastesavers, “we were able to donate a sofa, TV, table and chairs, some storage, a single bed and starter kit for the kitchen with kitchen crockery and utensils. We left the house feeling more like a home.”
Reuse Network supports the work of 120 UK reuse charities. Wastesavers is one example of the 120 charities that are supported by Reuse Network. Ellis Roberts, from the network, said that many members have expanded beyond furniture reuse as a result of the cost of living crisis.
1.5m household and electronic items were reused by the reuse sector last year. This helped 600,000 households to access affordable goods. Collectively, this saved them £188.5m compared to the cost of buying new.
Image: Reuse Network
Main image: Leila Coker
