Over the summer, local Labour MP Gerald Jones visited a longstanding furniture revival centre in Rhymney to see how their business is coping in the current climate.
Furniture revival is a social enterprise run by Groundwork Wales that aims to provide good quality second hand furniture to customers in the South Wales valleys. Boasting one of South Wales’ largest second hand furniture shops with approximately a 12,000 sq ft furniture showroom, the second hand furniture shop in Rhymney is popular with customers all over the heads of the valleys area.
The projects goods are reasonably priced and they provide furniture for an array of furniture and electrical appliances to homes in Caerphilly as well as local housing associations and members of the general public.
Despite tough years of UK government Austerity, the social enterprise is flourishing reporting a profit despite of the extra uncertainties surrounding the Brexit vote.
“Sometimes you forget about some of the great community projects and take the work they provide for granted” Gerald said during his visit. “The fact is that Groundwork and furniture revival have done such a good job here over a long-time and sometimes they don’t get the plaudits or recognition that some of the newer projects do. Quite often the good work of change happens quite quietly, but I hope we can celebrate successes like this more.”
Katy Stevenson who Directs Groundwork Wales was pleased that Gerald was able to visit.
“It’s always nice when we get a visit from Gerald, who has been a strong supporter of ours. Despite some uncertain times we’re glad to be providing furniture to local housing associations and charities, as well as the local community. Over the last few years we’ve done a lot of restructuring to ensure that Groundwork Wales (the parent organisation) is capable of providing a valuable service to communities across Wales, and we’re extremely proud that the project is still going strong in Rhymney 18 years after it opened. Over the next few years we’re hoping to grow the project so that we can reach more people in need of furniture, as well as increasing our capacity to teach skills to people from disadvantaged backgrounds, helping them develop skills that will help them into a career path or back into the jobs market. We’ll be opening a new shop in Merthyr in the autumn which will provide a valuable service to customers and people seeking placement and volunteering opportunities”
Click here to find out more about Furniture Revival Rhymney,