Paying it forward with donated café furniture

A Good Thing is mostly used by businesses donating things to local charitable causes. But occasionally – for a variety of reasons – charities will have things to give away, too. And when they do, they’re usually delighted to be able to give them away to other charities.

A family favourite national charity

Beautiful National Trust property Hatchlands Park in Surrey signed up with A Good Thing at the beginning of May, and within days had created a listing for a large amount of lovely wooden café furniture that had just become surplus to requirements. There were 12 small tables, five large tables and 20 chairs that had all been photographed in the sunshine in an attractive brick courtyard at Hatchlands: the way items are presented can really have an impact on how quickly they get matched.

Matt Batchelor, Facilities & Support Services Coordinator at Hatchlands, explains:

“Petworth, another National Trust property nearby, was having its café refurbished, and so they offered their furniture to us at Hatchlands. We were happy to take it, but needed to work out what to do with our own existing café furniture. We initially tried to offer ours around to other National Trust properties, but actually Hatchlands is quite small – so we’re often the end of the line for things.”

Matt and his team were really keen to ‘pay forward’ the original donation from Petworth:

“We’re always loth to throw anything decent away, and it can be impossibly expensive to use furniture disposal or resale companies. So A Good Thing was a godsend!”

Thanks to their sprawling layout, Matt explained that National Trust properties can often become repositories for ‘stuff’ that has accumulated historically:

“We’re having a bit of a programme of space clearances here: there are cold stores that fill with things, and stables… very occasionally we will have to use a commercial skip, but they’re impossibly expensive. And if the items are in good working order, it’s galling to use a skip.”

Built to last

Matt pointed out that much of the equipment used by a property like Hatchlands has been built to last: they get around 175,000 visitors a year, so their furniture needs to be able to cope with that. Even after many years of use, items are often still in very good condition.

The team at Hatchlands decided to give the donated furniture some TLC before it was passed on via A Good Thing:

“We gave it all a good wash and scrub before giving it away. It had been cleaned for us when we received it from Petworth, so it seemed only fair to pay that favour forward. We could see that some of the charities requesting it were not as big as us – and they might not have had the ability to hose it all down. We have the gloves, the chemicals – so it wasn’t hard for us to do. Charities were picking the furniture up in their own campervans and personal vehicles – the last thing you want is to cover someone’s vehicle in horrible stuff from a highchair!”

Matt was positive about the way the process had worked:

“A Good Thing was really easy to use. We had interest straightaway on the day we posted the offer, and the whole thing took four days from start to finish. I deal with lots of waste… and it’s horrible to have to get rid of things that you don’t need to! This is much nicer and more sensible. The furniture was waste to us – but was really useful to other charities.”

Supporting local charites

One of the charities that benefited was Disability Challengers, a Guildford charity working to transform the lives of disabled children, young people and their families throughout the south east of England through the power of play.

Zoe Youkee from the charity had requested two tables and four chairs for the ‘Hub’ space where Disability Challengers offers workshops, coffee mornings, craft sessions and drop-ins for the families of children with additional needs. They also offer dedicated one-to-one support appointments, which can be a lifeline for families. Zoe told us a bit more about the Hub:

“The project is lottery-funded and very new. We have been slowly filling up the space, but there was no budget for furniture. We got some initially from the local authority, and some other items were donated, but we just needed a couple more.”

Zoe was very positive about having made use of A Good Thing to add to the Hub:

“We obtained mugs and glasses last year via A Good Thing, and now this furniture. It finishes off the space nicely. And the logistics were easy. Hatchlands were brilliant: I sent a request in quickly, and they were quick to reply too. I have a campervan, so I used that to collect the furniture. The team at Hatchlands were carrying things out when I arrived, they were really helpful and it was so easy!”

The second charity to make use of Hatchlands’ furniture was the Fishbourne Playing Field Association, which runs a vibrant community centre but was in need of tables and chairs. They explained:

“Currently we have garden furniture in this area, which looks very odd and really needs to be moved outside onto the patio! And the room next door has no furniture in it at all. We’re hoping to use these areas to provide food for the community at lower prices: these tables and chairs were just right for our needs.”

The Association takes care of the beautiful Fishbourne Playing Fields, where the local community can enjoy some fabulous activities for all ages: a play park, tennis courts, outdoor gym equipment, football pitches, a cricket green, a bowling and croquet lawn, the Chichester Men’s Shed, and acres of beautifully maintained fields.

If you’re a charity looking for similar items, don’t miss out: sign up now!

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