These are the charities that collect furniture from your home to help those in need
Everything you need to know about donating your old furniture to help in the fight against poverty, homelessness and landfill waste.
by: Paul McTaggart, Greg Barradale
22 Sep 2022
Beds are among the most needed items of furniture to donate. Image:
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If you’ve upgraded your furniture recently, or have moved house and are looking to get rid of some, it might be time for a charity furniture collection. Giving your pre-loved pieces a new home can be rewarding – and save you a trip to the tip. That’s where any one of the UK’s charities that collect furniture can help.
As well as being good for the environment, it’s a useful way to make life easier for yourself, while also addressing an important issue: furniture poverty.
Campaign group End Furniture Poverty believes the number of people living without at least one essential household appliance has risen significantly from the 4.8 million known to be living in furniture poverty pre-pandemic.
People without access to good furniture can find themselves in trouble – turning to expensive credit, and falling into debt and rent arrears.
Here’s what you need to know:
What should I donate to charities that collect furniture?
There are charities that collect furniture across the country who are willing to take anything in good condition. From cutlery and crockery through to white goods and larger items such as sofas and couches. Beds and clean mattresses are always in high demand though, Kenyon said.
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It’s important not to waste both your time and the charity’s time with goods that have been damaged that cannot be re-used or resold. Look out for items that have been sun damaged or bleached, heavily scratched beyond repair or require being completely broken apart to be removed from the house.
Can I donate a sofa without a fire label?
The answer, unfortunately, is no. It’s illegal for charities to sell upholstered furniture without the correct fire label – so make sure your sofa has one. Other upholstered furniture you might be donating includes lounge chairs and armchairs, and some beds, all of which will need fire labels to be sold.
To find the fire label, search on any external surface of the sofa, such as on the bottom or under cushions. It should be firmly attached.
Not only will arranging a furniture donation help provide a helping hand to those in need but you will be taking steps against climate change.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) – one of the main charities that collect furniture – has stated that they save 71,000 tonnes of items going to waste a year, including 180,000 sofas. By avoiding the landfills BHF estimates that they have been able to save 135,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere.
What are the charities that collect furniture I can donate to?
There are multiple charities that collect furniture throughout the UK with a free collection service, rehoming it to a good cause.
British Heart Foundation
You can book a free collection via the British Heart Foundation to which they are appealing for furniture, electrical items and homeware. All you have to do is see if a pickup is available via your postcode on the British Heart Foundation website here.
Local organisations such as NewStarts
Local organisations such as NewStarts, which receives funding from Big Issue Invest, often know their local area’s needs. To donate you can either drop by the depot Monday-Friday or arrange a collection with one of their volunteers on 01527 882410. Drivers decide based on the condition of the item whether it can be collected.
All proceeds will go to the operation of food banks, computer recycling, and a newly found debt advice service.
Sue Ryder
Sue Ryder is a charity that provides palliative care and aid to those living with a terminal illness alongside providing bereavement support to those in need, and is one of the most recognisable charities that collect furniture. The charity will rehome all furniture except white goods as long as the furnishings are in re-saleable condition. To find out if you will be able to receive a pick up call their national furniture line on 0333 0031883.
Most Salvation Army shops will take small portable furniture items however, for the larger items such as sofas and beds specialist branches are available in the Luton and Glasgow area. In terms of charity furniture collection, both shops have volunteers willing to come and collect larger donations within the next day.
Shelter
The homeless charity offers a free partial house clearance and will collect most good quality items for free as long as pickup falls within 25 miles of one of their branches.
When most people think about the Big Issue, they think of vendors selling the Big Issue magazines on the streets – and we are immensely proud of this. In 2022 alone, we worked with 10% more vendors and these vendors earned £3.76 million in collective income. There is much more to the work we do at the Big Issue Group, our mission is to create innovative solutions through enterprise to unlock opportunity for the 14million people in the UK living in poverty.
