Charity which helps people in crisis is hit
VOLUNTEERS who deliver “a home in a van” to people with nothing claim their work is being hampered by accusations they are “bringing druggies in” and spreading “fake news”.
Registered “microcharity” Community Furniture Aid (CFA) has been denied the use of venues for fundraising by people who wrongly believe they are housing people with addiction issues in the area.
“We have got an image problem,” said Marianne Cash, who co-founded the self-sustaining charity, based in Pontycymmer near Bridgend, with husband Julian.
“People say to us, ‘They have got themselves into this situation, they should get themselves out’.
“People have not allowed us to hire venues because they think we are bringing druggies into the area. They say our charity doesn’t fit in with their image. But we just furnish properties and people with drug problems are only about 10% of the people we help.”
Julian added: “There was a story put on the Guardian website regarding a person we helped a few years ago with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and there was a comment underneath from a reader saying, ‘This is fake news’.”
But the reality for CFA is that they are having to work ever-longer hours to keep up with the demand from people in crisis. Apart from a small past donation from the Co-op and Persimmon Homes, they do it all without grant funding and are totally reliant on volunteers, who are in just as short supply as money.
On Thursday they fully furnished their 305th house in three years.
The client was lorry driver Andrew Wilcox, 50, who had been a lance corporal in the Royal Regiment of Wales. Following a relationship breakdown he was left homeless, under financial strain and reduced to “sofa surfing” or sleeping in his cab.
Now in a new relationship and expecting a baby, he secured a privately rented house in the Bridgend area for his family. But with no furniture to his name, he turned to armed forces charity SSAFA for help.
It referred his case to CFA and on Thursday Julian and three volunteers delivered what Julian terms “a home in a van” – everything from beds and mattresses to sofas, a dining table and even a dish rack and mugs – all for £140, which will be paid by SSAFA.
“We turned up to view the property and it was totally empty – no fur- niture, no lightbulbs, no nothing,” said Julian.
“What we do as a charity is we come in and we try and make it a home for them, so we provided all the furniture, fixtures, fittings, pictures for the walls and even lightbulbs for the light fittings. They can then move on with their lives and haven’t got the stress and strain of having to try to source things individually. They have literally had a house delivered in a van.”
Andrew said: “To be honest, it’s going to be a massive help towards my future. I can’t thank everyone enough, including SSAFA, Julian and his team.
“Let’s put it this way – it would have been an extra-hard uphill task made massively longer because, at the end of the day, when people are desperate, which I was and still am to a certain degree, you rely on SSAFA and CFA to step in and say, ‘Here you are’.
“I’d like to thank Dave from SSAFA in Bridgend because without him none of this would have been possible.”
Andrew – who said he will volunteer with CFA and return the furniture when he’s back on his feet so it can be used to help someone else – also has a helpful landlord who will be fitting a new kitchen, laying flooring and undertaking other work to make the house more comfortable.
But in CFA’s experience, most people moving on from homelessness do not have this additional support and will be given the keys to completely unfurnished properties.
As well as SSAFA, they receive referrals from up to 30 agencies including Bridgend County Borough Council, housing associations, the Salvation Army, homelessness charities The Wallich and Llamau, and mental health charity Gofal.
They said they have de-