In November 08 we started opening the warehouse to the public every week on Wednesday and Friday from 10am - 4pm. We intend to increase the days we open over the next few months until we are open full time. New announcements will be on this website.

 

On 18th September 2008 South Shropshire Furniture Scheme officially opened it's new warehouse in Ludlow. The new warehouse will give people much greater access and choice of low cost household items. There is ample parking and the warehouse is accessible via public transport - it is a 15 minute walk from the railway station and the 702 bus passes the door.


Jean Jarvis CEO declares warehouse open.

 


Jenny Brown Ludlow College, Jean Jarvis CEO SSFS, Philip Dunne MP, Cllr Martin Taylor-Smith

 

From PSE local news

Government Tribute to South Shropshire Furniture Scheme's support for flood-hit communities

Congratulations to South Shropshire Furniture Scheme, who were recognised at a Downing Street reception with Floods Recovery Minister John Healey. Twenty-nine charities and voluntary organisations who raised money and gave practical help attended the event, including our local social enterprise, which worked with the Local Authority to help families who had been flooded.

Flood Recovery Minister John Healey said:

“I have made many visits to areas that were devastated by last summer's floods as Flood Recovery Minister. I am always struck by the way in which communities have come together to help and support each other. That's why I asked local authorities and others to nominate representatives of local charities and voluntary groups they felt had gone above and beyond the call of duty to help local people at that extremely difficult time.

“I have been really impressed by the efforts these organisations have made, on many occasions staffed by people who themselves had seen their own homes damaged by the floods. These charities, and the people who run them, are a great credit to this country and our communities. They deserve our thanks and recognition for their efforts.”

Jean Jarvis, Chief Executive of the South Shropshire Furniture Scheme said:

“The South Shropshire Furniture Scheme was in a unique position to give assistance immediately after the first overnight flooding. We were involved from day one and the local authority commissioned our services to give information, advice and guidance to those affected. We were able to help by loaning and indeed giving household items and support to people – some of whom had lost all their possessions and were in a state of shock. We are still assisting people now who have not yet been able to return to their homes.


John Healy Flood Recovery Minister presents the certificate
to Pat Allen & Jean Jarvis

7 April 2008
South Shropshire Furniture Scheme takes on bulky waste

From Monday 14 th April, the bulky waste collection service in South Shropshire will be operated by South Shropshire Furniture Scheme, a charity and social enterprise.

Donald Macphail, managing director of Veolia ES Shropshire Ltd said: “Veolia currently operates the bulky waste collection service in South Shropshire on behalf of the Shropshire Waste Partnership. We have subcontracted this service to the South Shropshire Furniture Scheme and they will be collecting with the aim of re-using any suitable materials, reducing the waste that currently goes to landfill.”

Jean Jarvis Chief Executive of SSFS and director of the Shropshire Community Recycling Network (SCRN) said “This is a really exciting development. The contract will give us wider access to the household items that people throw away, giving us a larger supply of re-useable items to redistribute to people on low incomes. We have had huge support from the Shropshire Waste Partnership and Veolia have great confidence in our ability to deliver this contract. We are joining a very elite UK group of community enterprises delivering this kind of service – which is great news for Shropshire .”

Joy Blizzard, waste initiatives officer for the Shropshire Waste Partnership said: “Often furniture and other items of bulky waste put out for collection could be reused but people don't have the means of disposing of it other than by using the council collection service. The South Shropshire Furniture Scheme will be sorting out items that can be reused and taking them out of the waste stream. Reusing something is even better for the environment than recycling materials which need reprocessing. So, if it has life left in it, make sure it's reused!”

Residents of South Shropshire who have bulky waste material that they believe is suitable for recycling should call the Customer Service Centre on 0845 678 9009. A representative of the South Shropshire Furniture Scheme will then contact them to arrange a collection date.

Items including business waste, building waste, hazardous waste and general household refuse cannot be collected using this service.
ENDS
Veolia Environmental Services is the UK 's leading waste management company employing circa 13,000 people nationwide and serving over 13 million residents. Globally, the company employs 80,700 people and serves more than 45 million inhabitants across 35 countries. Veolia Environmental Services is the only worldwide provider of a full range of services for handling solid and liquid waste. It provides waste management and logistics services , as well as materials recovery and recycling. Veolia Environmental Services generated revenue of €9.2 billion in 2007. The company is part of Veolia Environnement, the world leader in environmental services. With more than 300,000 employees, Veolia Environnement is a global operator providing tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary sectors: energy management, freight and passenger transportation water and waste. Veolia Environnement recorded revenues of €32.6 billion in 2007.
Further information can be obtained by visiting the websites:
www.veolia.co.uk and www.veoliaenvironnement.com

25/09/07 Renaissance Centre Tearoom gets Revamp
South Shropshire Furniture Scheme (SSFS) has received a £5,000 grant from Big Lottery's Awards For All.

The Renaissance Centre in Tower Street, Ludlow in June 04. The refurbishment of the former job centre was carried out by staff and volunteers on a shoestring budget and since then has built up a large customer base. In October last year the whole SSFS team moved to Ludlow to carpentry, computer recycling and electrical workshops behind the Bishop Mascall Centre and offices and workshops at The Renaissance Centre in Tower Street.

Chief Executive Jean Jarvis said “We are absolutely thrilled to receive this grant, which means that we have been able to convert our tearoom into a multipurpose function room, better utilising the space we have and enabling us to deliver workshops on the days that the tearoom is closed. We have replaced the flooring to provide a non-slip, washable surface and have replaced the old mismatched tables and chairs with matching ones that can be used separately or easily arranged to meet different requirements. We plan to deliver a range of accredited craft workshops, using recycled materials, such as traditional rug making, card making and mosaics to people who face barriers to learning. Workshops are tailored to suit the ability of participants and we provide a supportive and inclusive environment allowing people to progress at their own pace”.

Ends/

24/09/07 New van meansfewer journeys for Environmentally Friendly Furniture Scheme

South Shropshire Furniture Scheme (SSFS) have received a grant through the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) to purchase a larger furniture distribution van.
Jean Jarvis Chief Executive of SSFS said “our scheme has become increasingly busy – the recent floods have played a part in this and our move to Ludlow has also significantly raised our profile. In our bid to them ALSF recognised the fact that we are increasingly busy and making more journeys to collect and deliver essential household items. They have granted us the funds to purchase a Luton style vehicle and pay for a year's running costs. We are absolutely thrilled to receive this grant - we will be making fewer journeys to collect more items and as our scheme continues to grow the number of houses delivered to and collected from will increase further.

Jean continues “This grant means that we now have an additional van which we will use for local trips and also have opportunities for volunteers to help us on one or two days a week - working with one of our skilled distribution staff. We offer training, support and travel expenses to our volunteers, who will be out and about in the lovely South Shropshire countryside assisting with the collect and delivery of household items. We are hoping to build up a team of regular and backup volunteers and also volunteers to help organise the collections and deliveies. For the furniture distribution work you will need to be reasonably fit and active, whilst telephone volunteers need to be good listeners and able to impart accurate information to enquirers. Again training and full support will be provided along with travel expenses”.

Ends/

 

8th May 2007 - launch of recycling with a difference - resale of low cost electrical items

South Shropshire Furniture Scheme is now working with The Network (Worcestershire)

From Friday 11 th May, The Renaissance Centre in Ludlow, South Shropshire Furniture Scheme's retail outlet, is working with The Network (Worcestershire) and will have a selection of low cost recycled electrical items for sale to the general public.

Recycling with a Difference

The Network (Worcestershire) is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee, established to run an Electrical Appliance Reuse Centre (ARC). The project provides a community focused solution to the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) which came into European Law in August 2004. Under the WEEE Directive the EU identified WEEE as a priority waste stream. The amount of WEEE generated is increasing rapidly and the hazardous components in electrical waste are a major concern. At least 1 million tonnes of electrical waste is discarded in the UK every year and it is estimated that this is growing rapidly at an annual rate of 4-8%.

The project diverts used domestic electrical appliances from landfill into the Electrical Appliance Reuse Centre for reuse or refurbishment. At the 22,000 sq ft purpose converted centre, goods are assessed as to whether they can be reused in their entirety or whether component parts can be salvaged.

Repaired items are tested to ensure compliance with health and safety and trading standard requirements, All reusable goods are then sold at discounted prices, via their showroom, in the heart of its community. Those items that are unusable are stripped down and recycled wherever possible. An agreement with local specialists to recycle hard plastics means that the amount of material going to landfill is minimal. The skilled and dedicated staff processed a total of over 200 tonnes of electrical items during 2004 and 2005, and in 2006 the annual figure passed 300 tonnes with some 1700 items reused. They will increase this to 8,000 items per year as they go into 2008 and beyond.

Jean Jarvis, South Shropshire Furniture Scheme's Chief Executive said today "We are looking forward to working with The Network (Worcestershire), as far as quality goes, their team of 5 service engineers are passionate about what they do and have over 100 years of experience between them; hence a failure rate of just 1.9% in 2006. This compares favourably with more than 4% of brand new appliances. Every single item is fully inspected and goes through a thorough functionality test".

Leaflets and more information available from The Renaissance Centre, 7-8 Tower Street, Ludlow, SY8 1RL.

Contact Jean Jarvis telephone 01584 877751

e mail info@furniturescheme.co.uk or visit our web site at www.furniturescheme.co.uk .

Ends/

22nd February 2007 - Craft Club

An opportunity to learn a variety of craft skills with our tutor, Serena Penn-Harvey

South Shropshire Furniture Schemes (SSFS) tutor, Serena, will be holding a craft club on Fridays at our Renaissance Centre in Ludlow. Starting with ceramic mosaics.

Jean Jarvis, Chief Executive of SSFS said ' Serena is a multi skilled crafts tutor and the idea is that people can try a variety of crafts using textiles and other materials as well as mosaics, going away with a completed item. We are starting off with mosaic work but the craft club will be very flexible. The cost will be £3 for a morning or afternoon session and workshops are conducted in a relaxed and supportive environment where learners are encouraged to progress at their own pace. Often we find participants enjoy their time with us as they continue to come to the workshops to support new students and to pass on their newly learnt skills.

The craft club will be help in The Renaissance Centre, Tower Street, Ludlow every Friday, the morning session is 9.30 - 12.30 and the afternoon session is 1.30 - 3.30.

SSFS deliver workshops throughout the county. There are various workshops and we use as much donated materials as possible, we encourage reuse and recycling.

Contact us at 7-8 Tower Street, Ludlow, SY8 1RL telephone 01584 877751, e mail christine@furniturescheme.co.uk or visit our web site at www.furniturescheme.co.uk .

6th December 2006 - South Shropshire Furniture Scheme awarded Matrix Standard

The National Information Advice and Guidance Board was established in 2001 by the Secretary of State to ensure coherent delivery of information, advice and guidance and to help remove the barriers to access that some people experience in the world of learning and work. A set of principles was also drawn up to guide organisations towards meeting the quality standard.

Organisations meeting these principles are awarded the quality mark known as Matrix Standard. This recognises the organisation as having not only an effective, knowledgeable and professional approach to its services but also a friendly, responsive and supportive approach to its clients.

South Shropshire Furniture Scheme is especially proud that they have recently been awarded this prestigious award in recognition of the quality of its services to its clients as it embodies the very values at the core of the organisation about people doing their best and achieving their potential.

 

Launch of Paperback Project at South Shropshire Furniture Scheme’ Renaissance Centre


This Friday 17th November at 4pm Leader of South Shropshire District Council Heather Kidd, opened the new book section of the Renaissance Centre in Tower Street, Ludlow.

 Donated paper and hardback books in exceptionally good condition are being sold for £1 to help raise funds for the furniture scheme.Jean Jarvis Chief Executive of SSFS said ‘the book store has come about as part of our initiative to recycle unwanted books. Throughout the course of a year thousands of books are donated to our scheme, our relocation to the Renaissance Centre has given us the opportunity to sell the better quality books, those that cant be sold will be recycled, thus saving around 2 tonnes of books a month from landfill”
Mike Jones, Co-ordinator of the Paperback Project commented “ I was concerned from my dealings with other organisation that a vast amount of unwanted books were being sent to landfill. I realised that the furniture scheme had the resources to recycle these books and that the scheme could also benefit by receiving recycle credits from Shropshire County Council. I would encourage anyone with unwanted books to bring them to us for reuse or recycling and our staff and volunteers will be very pleased to receive them.

Contact us at The Renaissance Centre, 7/8 Tower Street, Ludlow, telephone 01584 877751,
email info@furniturescheme.co.uk or visit their web site at www.furniturescheme.co.uk.


Notes to the Editor

SSFS (est. 1994) is South Shropshire’s only furniture and electrical appliance re-use charity. SSFS collects of donated items which are delivered to people in need. The project is based in Church Stretton but covers the whole of the South Shropshire district. SSFS collects over 4,000 items of furniture and electrical appliances each year. Through these donations the Scheme is able to provide over 200 low-income households with affordable furniture and appliances, diverting huge volumes of materials from landfill. The Scheme runs carpentry, electrical, computer recycling and craft workshops offering Open College Network Accredited training opportunities to disadvantaged people, raising awareness to the benefits of reuse, recycling and sustainable lifestyles and generating income to help support the charity.
 
 

Registered charity number 1082068 | Registered Company 4041051 | © South Shropshire Furniture Scheme 2006