As I walk around the modest Old Market HQ of the Bristol SOFA Project, a volunteer politely asks if I need any help. Surrounded by settees of all colours and cloths, an array of dining tables and chairs and rows upon rows of white goods, I’m momentarily stumped. It dawns on me how epic a task organising Shifting Old Furniture Around (SOFA, y’see…) must be, not to mention the back-into-work volunteer schemes, two showrooms and the numerous environmental awareness campaigns connected.

SOFA (soon approaching the big 3-0 years old) assists the unemployed, ex-offenders and people with learning difficulties by showing them how to re-invent the donated items, which are then sold back to the public at a comparatively low price, handily reducing waste in hazardous landfill sites. Ian Rowlands is a volunteer in charge of Retail and Support. His approachable, easy nature says more than any press release ever could; “People sometimes forget we’re a charity run by people who donate their time or unwanted goods and we’re dependent on that. Things are tough at the moment for everybody, but the public have never wavered in their generosity and we’re incredibly grateful for that.”

The mantra ‘Re-think, Re-use, Re-generate’ permeates the company’s every move and has seen their expansion with a store in Weston-Super-Mare. However, Ian thinks this isn’t enough; “We’d really like to go back into Bath. We had an outlet there but ran into property issues. People assume Bath is affluent but there were people who really benefited from our help and support. We’d like to get Bath City Council involved but any organisation or benefactor wanting to help us to help other people would be a welcome contact.”

Unassuming, dedicated and steadfast, the SOFA Project looks set to conquer the South West one cushion at a time.

www.sofaproject.org.uk

Heather McKay