Furniture donation brings business and charity sector together in Shropshire
In spring 2023, Ambro Ltd made the difficult decision to close its manufacturing division. But the firm was determined to prevent its fixtures and fittings from going to landfill. The company learnt it would be quick and easy to notify local charities about the furniture through A Good Thing, and immediately set about listing its items… and the outcome was truly marvellous!
Researching a local solution
As production drew to an end at a plastic manufacturing site in Telford, Phil Caudle (Managing Director of Ambro Ltd) wanted to make sure that nothing was sent to landfill. Phil reached out to local firm Chrisbeon Office Supplies, a great champion of A Good Thing, who pointed him in our direction.
“It was important to me that there was little waste from the site, so we began looking at recycling firms: when Chrisbeon recommended A Good Thing, it seemed the perfect solution.”
Phil got to work busily listing the many different offers: these included desks, chairs, cupboards, storage, footrests, filing trays, shelves, reception desks and even plants. Creating separate listings within each of the platform’s different categories enabled Phil to quickly engage with four local charities once the offers went live:
“It was amazing to reach so many local charities so quickly. They were all looking for different things: one charity was looking for just one desk, while two others were looking for furnishing solutions for a whole space. Once the three charities had been to collect their items, we had several chairs leftover. On the recommendation of the team at A Good Thing, we listed these as one final, separate offer - and they were then snapped up by another fantastic local charity.”
Local businesses save the day
But, it wasn’t all plain sailing! One of the charities due to collect items was INTune Radio CIC, but they had a last-minute change of availability for a new place to call home… and were suddenly left without a space for their newly-acquired furniture from Ambro. Phil explains:
“It was a real rollercoaster. The charity came along with Chrisbeon, who had kindly offered to help move the furniture from our office to the radio’s new home, but then it all suddenly fell through! Wayne from INTune was worried that he would lose out on the furniture, but Richard and the team from Chrisbeon were fantastic. They stepped in immediately, loaded the furniture onto the truck, and took it off into storage at another fantastic local business: Storage Solutions Shrewsbury. What great guys they are, it was absolutely brilliant — a real feather in Chrisbeon’s and Storage Solutions’ caps.”
Wayne Flynn, Founder of INtune Radio CIC, commented:
“Phil from Ambro, the team at Chrisbeon and Storage Solutions Shrewsbury all really went above and beyond what we ever expected. Phil took the time to help us, he was professional and flexible. Chrisbeon moved all the furniture for free: our plans changed at the last moment but they accommodated this and helped us to find a storage solution. Without the help of Chrisbeon, all the office furniture would most certainly have gone to landfill. We can’t thank everyone enough.”
Wayne Flynn from INTune Radio CIC with the team from Chrisbeon Office Supplies
Growing charity supported
Multiple local charities benefited from this large offer listed by Ambro. Various chairs were snapped up by the ever-growing The Crossbar Foundation — a fantastic local charity with a vision to engage local children and young adults in sports to help keep them safe. It is also focused on tackling issues around health and wellbeing, such as childhood obesity, diabetes and mental health. Lynette Whiting, Office Manager at the charity commented:
“We’ll be using the new chairs at ‘Stuart’s Stable’, our rural education centre located near Broseley. Demand for the services at the centre is growing, and we really needed some extra seating. This offer was the perfect solution! Children who attend this peaceful site get to practise life skills such as gardening and cooking. It’s an incredible place where they can detach and calm their minds: it’s great to have a few extra chairs!”
Give and receive
Sarah Chard, from The Clifton Community Arts Centre (CCAC), was referred to A Good Thing when she was looking for an alternative solution to recycling for a job lot of no-longer-needed cardboard tubes:
“We were working with a local sustainability consultant and we got talking about some of the items that we were storing, but no longer needed. He recommended A Good Thing and we thought it was a great idea so we registered and listed an offer.”
The Clifton Community Arts Centre (CCAC) was established in 2013 with a view to providing arts and cultural facilities for the benefit of the community. In August 2016 the local HSBC Bank closed, and after lengthy negotiations a lease was finally signed and the CCAC and Wellington Orbit was born. The centre has a wonderful community cinema and cafe area on the lower floors, and is in the process of securing funding to develop communal meeting space and classrooms on its upper floors. Sarah commented:
“Once the funding is in place, we’ll continue with our plans to make the upper floors a communal working space: a place for meetings, therapy sessions and even dance classes! It was great to receive the furniture in preparation for the renovations. It was in such great condition and will help us to develop this vibrant new space. A huge thank you to Phil at the business and to A Good Thing.”
Even a small item can make a big difference
Amid all the busyness of this huge offer, there was also a small success story, proving that sometimes just one item can make a huge difference. Katja, who is a trustee for a local Men’s Shed and also works with local charity Compassionate Community, was on the lookout for a new desk to make working from home manageable. Katja commented:
“Since the pandemic, I have seen a huge increase in demand for the services of our charity’s befriending services and growth in the reach of the Men’s Shed. Working from home, I needed a new space to work and manage my busy day. The kitchen table just didn’t cut it — the new desk is just perfect.”
Katja was so pleased with how easy Phil made it for her to collect the desk, she gifted him a delicious jar of homemade jam when they met on collection day, to say thank you. She was thrilled with the whole process:
“I could tell Phil was super pleased. He was thrilled that his items were going to go to a new home. He thought A Good Thing was a fantastic idea and was so willing to accommodate my collection requests to make sure the desk made it to its new home with our charity. A Good Thing is a great idea, it’s so easy for the business and the charity to work together and share — thank you!”
A great community effort
A huge thank you to all the local businesses, in particular Chrisbeon Office Supplies and Storage Solutions Shrewsbury, who donated time, transport and storage to ensure that the furniture didn’t end up in landfill. This furniture has instead been able to make a difference to small charities working tirelessly to support the people of Shropshire.
Phil was thrilled with the outcome and full of positivity for A Good Thing:
“The team at A Good Thing have been fantastic, really friendly, always on hand to guide and advise. It has been a great outcome as our company moves forward. I would recommend the app to anyone with any surplus items.”
There seems no better way to end this story than with the words of Wayne from INtune Radio CIC:
“So the people of Telford and Shrewsbury came together and saved a heap of furniture from going to landfill… and instead it’s doing ‘a good thing’! Thank you to everyone involved — real community spirit!”
We echo the sentiment: what a fantastic match!
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