Alison Turner is chairperson at the Furniture Reuse Project, a charity that gives away furniture to people in need in Plymouth.
Since March, she has had to close the shop and cancel furniture collection from home clearances – even though demand for furniture from homeless people in unfurnished accommodation and women fleeing domestic violence is higher than ever.
When did things change?
Almost straight away. It got quiet. Things haven’t changed in terms of people calling us for help, but the shop is closed, we’re not selling anything. Even though we’re delivering free of charge, we haven’t got any revenue coming in. We’re taking it day by day. But we’re also trying to plan for after lockdown.
I get socially anxious and I know that after lockdown ends, it will be scary for some people to go outside when everywhere is full of people. So we’re creating these boxes with a few ingredients for healthy recipes, essentials like pasta and some nice shower gels or soaps – something to life people’s spirits. I’m staying in touch with our most vulnerable people on Facetime – especially people who have overcome drug and alcohol addiction. It’s scary for any of us but if you’re going through something like that it’s much harder.
Who are you working with in Plymouth?
We work with 130 organisations. Someone from the council will say they have a family so they will come to us, because people know we are still open for guidance. All the charities I know are doing everything they can, but it’s quite difficult because you can’t have contact, you can’t even put flyers through the doors. It’s making things worse in terms of loneliness and isolation.
What is the impact on your work?
We have seen an increase in requests from families fleeing domestic violence. The city council has seen an increase as well so they are giving people properties, even if it’s temporary. Often these families have to leave everything – they have nothing, even the children have nothing, so we try to provide some sort of comfort. We have beds, bedding, lots of children’s books and toys. I’m using Zoflora [an anti-bacterial spray] on everything. I have two vulnerable people in my household so I’m obsessed with it – I even use it in the garden! We’re providing bottles of Zoflora for others as well. If you put a capful in water, it lasts forever. It saves a lot of money.
How has the virus impacted your finances?
I was voluntary anyway. We have put staff on furlough, and a volunteer delivers furniture. We got a small business grant but that’s almost gone. Our bills per week are nearly £2000 by the time you take into insurance and rent, so it’s a real struggle. We need to think about the longer term – but we’re having to take it day by day. We’re frantically applying for funding everywhere.
What should the government be doing?
The main thing I find frustrating is that there is no leadership. There are no clear guidelines. They should say: we’re on lockdown, and this is what it means for you, but instead it’s a mess.
I’ve always found it very difficult to get funding for grassroots projects anyway. For any one funding pot you have thousands applying. The £10,000 small business grant was amazing but it’s not going to last, and there’s no official help for charities.
What’s your relationship with the council like?
The £10,000 grant [from Plymouth City Council] was great for us. But in general, I don’t think I have a good relationship with councillors in Plymouth because for two years I have been writing to them for funding from the little pots they have, and I have never heard back. I’m hopeful that after all of this, governments and local authorities will realise how grassroots charities keep communities together and how much we do. We’re frontline workers.
What do you have planned in the longer term?
To be honest we haven’t thought about the longer term – we’re just trying to get through day by day. We have a list of requests for help that we are trying to get through. People are donating, but we’re not able to collect the furniture. So it’s difficult to plan when our stock is depleting. We’re praying that lockdown ends soon.
