I was homeless and knew people who’d used the Furniture Scheme and when I got a place, I got all the furniture I needed from there. After that I felt I wanted to give something back because they’d helped me. I really enjoy volunteering here, there is a good atmosphere and everyone is very friendly.
I mainly work in the warehouse and I’ve learned so much. I’m dyslexic and I was worried about using the iPad to log in new furniture donations, do sales and so on, but once I’d been shown I was able to do it on my own. It made me feel good.
It’s great helping a customer so that they leave happy, I like showing them how they can also use our online shop on their phone to find what they want. I’ve done a lot of support and caring work in the past and I want to help people. You can have a laugh and joke with people.
It’s not a regimented, rules and regulations sort of place – Simon the CEO and the paid staff don’t feel different to the volunteers – we’re one big team, like a family. It’s also flexible, I usually work in the warehouse but could easily move to the workshop or upholstery if I fancied a change.
All the volunteers have different skills and experiences so you can learn a lot from each other. I was nervous about using an electric saw, but one of the volunteers showed me how to do it safely and he was very patient, there was no pressure. Now I’ve got DIY skills I use at home.
I also like supporting new volunteers, I say ‘take your time, if you take an hour to log one thing it doesn’t matter!’.
It’s a very relaxed place to work, if I have other stuff going on in my life the Furniture
Scheme is great for de-stressing, it makes me feel very content with myself. If anyone is looking for somewhere to volunteer, I really recommend it.
