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SOFA project launches in North Somerset

27 July 2009

SOFA (Shifting Old Furniture Around) Project, a Bristol-based charity and social enterprise, who specialise in the collection and supply of re-useable furniture, household goods, and domestic electrical appliances are expanding into North Somerset with the opening of a new retail outlet at 3 Loxton Road on the Coronation estate in Weston-super-Mare. The new shop was opened by John Penrose MP on Friday 24th July 2009.

With £30,000 support from NSHousing , the shop will sell low-cost new, nearly new and secondhand furniture and domestic electrical appliances to the public, with additional discounts for those on benefits. SOFA Project will also be providing a collection service for good quality secondhand furniture and electrical appliances.

It is hoped to help over 1,000 households a year to furnish their homes at affordable prices with furniture and also electrical appliances, that had they not been obtained by SOFA and refurbished, might otherwise have been sent to landfill sites

"We are looking forward to having the opportunity to help households in North Somerset reduce their impact on the environment", comments Julian Williams, SOFA's Director. "Many of the items on sale in the Weston shop will be new - either surplus or ‘graded' goods provided by retailers and manufacturers – and are priced at a fraction of the cost you would find similar items on the high street.

Clive Bodley, Chief Executive of NSHousing said: " We are delighted to be supporting an enterprise which has such clear social, environmental and economic aims and which will benefit not only our own tenants but the wider local community."

In addition to providing good quality and excellent value furniture and electrical appliances, SOFA Project will be providing a number of opportunities for people from North Somerset seeking work placements or volunteering opportunities.