Furniture Now! expands training programme

Furniture Now! (FN!), a re-use and recycling charity, is expanding its training scheme to help disadvantaged people learn the skills they need to get back into employment.

FN! has been operating in East Sussex since 1994. The charity aims to address the problems of waste, the environment, poverty and social exclusion. They collect donated pieces of furniture and make them available at low cost to people in need throughout Sussex. As well as helping low-income households to furnish their homes, this programme prevents re-usable materials going to waste. In partnership with Lewes District Council, FN! also supplies a recycling collection service, using non-polluting electric vehicles. More than 12,000 people each year benefit from these services. In November, FN! was awarded £280,000 of Big Lottery money to continue its work.

The charity also runs a Training Centre. All of their students suffer some form of social exclusion; the training scheme caters for those with mental health needs, the under-represented and the long-term unemployed. FN! already runs two courses in decorative furniture painting and are now adding a new course that will involve CV writing, interview techniques, how to go about a job search and how to present oneself to a prospective employer.

Director of Operations, Rik Child said: "It has always been one of FN!'s key goals to help people back into work, as this leads to dignity, independence and improved mental health."