Furniture charity shop back after new support

May 9 2008

LANARKSHIRE Furniture will once again have a charity superstore in Motherwell town centre.

Thanks to the generosity of Cala Properties, the organisation were able to open up this week in the old Asda store in Brandon Parade.

Lanarkshire Furniture collects donations of good quality furniture from those who no longer need it, and sells it on at low cost.

Unable to afford commercial rent in town centres, they often rely on companies, like Cala Properties, to support them by allowing them to use their premises rent-free.

In 2006, the charity were given the old ScotMid store (next door to old Asda) to use after their old store suffered a warehouse fire.

However, they were moved out in early 2007 because of technicalities with the lease when Cala Properties were buying the town centre.

Crawford Kirkwood, boss of Lanarkshire Furniture, said: ”We are thankful to Cala Properties for supporting our organisation in such a big way.

“We were very sad to move out of Motherwell, as we felt we were filling an important gap in the community there. The new store is enormous, but judging from past experience, I’m sure we’ll fill it in no time!

“Last time we were in Motherwell, we had a huge number of local people come and volunteer with us. Their help in running such a big shop was invaluable, and we would be looking for people to help us out again now.“

Opportunities include van assistants, retail assistants, handymen and retired electricians and joiners.

Volunteers can gain work experience to help them get back into work, make new friends or give them a focus and a reason to get out of the house.

For further details about how to volunteers contact 0845 241 2175.