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Furniture Matters

Submitted by Charles Newman on 12 October 2009 - 3:53pm
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 In the last decade Furniture Matters has grown from an organisation with just one van and three members of staff, to one with seven premises, 32 staff members, 70 volunteering positions and12 vehicles. In this time they have collected 40,000 donated items and diverted more than 3,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.

In April 2006, Furniture Matters launched its Bulky Matters service in partnership with Lancaster City Council.  They set about replacing the city council’s existing system of collecting and land filling, with one that reuses and recycles bulky items to sell cheaply to local people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The success of this initiative encouraged interest from other local authorities.  However, in order for Furniture Matters to expand and work with other councils in the Northwest, it required more time and additional resources. 
Following a request for assistance, the solution came from REalliance, the delivery partner for a free Capacity Building Programme for Third Sector Organisations, supported by the Waste & Resource Acton Programme. Initially a case manager was appointed to help develop the business support required.   Following this, an experienced Interim Manager was appointed by Furniture Matters to oversee operations, freeing the Projects Delivery Manager to devote his time and expertise to securing and overseeing new contracts. When the project had been completed, the Interim Manager handed responsibility back to the Projects Delivery Manager and helped him reintegrate his core role.
The REalliance CIC case manager responsible for developing the support plan for Furniture Matters, Craig Anderson, explained: “By putting in place an experienced Interim Manager we enabled Furniture Matters to fulfil its aims of expansion with more local authorities while ensuring their core operations continued to be delivered to the same high standard they had always set themselves… By working together we identified what assistance would reap the biggest benefits.”
Within a year, the support provided by the Capacity Building Programme has resulted in securing one new contract and a likely five further agreements with local authorities. Commenting on the partnership with REalliance CIC, Alison Page, Chief Executive of Furniture Matters, said: “We found working with WRAP and REalliance CIC a very positive experience… I would encourage other third sector organisations facing similar issues to get in touch with REalliance CIC and discuss the free support that can be provided through the Third Sector Capacity Building Programme. “In the last decade Furniture Matters has grown from an organisation with just one van and three members of staff, to one with seven premises, 32 staff members, 70 volunteering positions and12 vehicles. In this time they have collected 40,000 donated items and diverted more than 3,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.

In April 2006, Furniture Matters launched its Bulky Matters service in partnership with Lancaster City Council.  They set about replacing the city council’s existing system of collecting and land filling, with one that reuses and recycles bulky items to sell cheaply to local people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The success of this initiative encouraged interest from other local authorities.  However, in order for Furniture Matters to expand and work with other councils in the Northwest, it required more time and additional resources. 

Furniture Matters

Following a request for assistance, the solution came from REalliance, the delivery partner for a free Capacity Building Programme for Third Sector Organisations, supported by the Waste & Resource Acton Programme. Initially a case manager was appointed to help develop the business support required.   Following this, an experienced Interim Manager was appointed by Furniture Matters to oversee operations, freeing the Projects Delivery Manager to devote his time and expertise to securing and overseeing new contracts. When the project had been completed, the Interim Manager handed responsibility back to the Projects Delivery Manager and helped him reintegrate his core role.

The REalliance CIC case manager responsible for developing the support plan for Furniture Matters, Craig Anderson, explained: “By putting in place an experienced Interim Manager we enabled Furniture Matters to fulfil its aims of expansion with more local authorities while ensuring their core operations continued to be delivered to the same high standard they had always set themselves… By working together we identified what assistance would reap the biggest benefits.”

Within a year, the support provided by the Capacity Building Programme has resulted in securing one new contract and a likely five further agreements with local authorities. Commenting on the partnership with REalliance CIC, Alison Page, Chief Executive of Furniture Matters, said: “We found working with WRAP and REalliance CIC a very positive experience… I would encourage other third sector organisations facing similar issues to get in touch with REalliance CIC and discuss the free support that can be provided through the Third Sector Capacity Building Programme. “