Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, recently spent a Friday morning helping to open a new charity furniture warehouse on the Brook Road Industrial Estate in his constituency.
The warehouse, which stocks second hand furniture and electrical goods, such as televisions, was created by local church based charity Hopeworx, which established the facility in order to allow people to donate second hand furniture which can then be made available to members of the public, particularly those who are on a low income and might have difficulty furnishing their properties.
The group took over a redundant warehouse on the Brook Road Industrial Estate and, with a tremendous amount of voluntary effort, brightened the place up and turned it into a show room. In this effort, they were also supported by a number of ex-offenders undertaking “community payback” service, who helped to fit out the building, including by laying carpet throughout. Hopeworx were also supported by Essex charity, The Lighthouse Project which has already established similar facilities in other parts of the county.
The Hopeworx warehouse is now open to members of the public and anybody wishing to make further enquiries about what is on offer is encouraged to contact Janet Fox on 01702 864 300.
Commenting on this initiative Mark Francois said:
“I was delighted to be able to open this new warehouse, which has been created with a tremendous amount of charitable and voluntary effort and which should be an asset to our local community in Rayleigh. As well as finding uses for second hand furniture, (which would otherwise go to landfill and therefore helping the environment), this initiative also helps to provide furniture, particularly to people who might otherwise struggle to afford it. I looked around some of the displays and some of the stuff on offer is of good quality and very reasonably priced, so if anybody needs a new sideboard or three-piece suite I would encourage them to pop down to Brook Road and see what is on offer for themselves. Finally I would like to wish Hopeworx and all the people that have worked with them all the very best with this project in the future.”
