False claims the efforts of

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 “micro charity” 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 selfsustaining 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 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 it is having to work ever longer hours to keep up with the demand from people in crisis.

Apart from a small donation from the Co-Op and Persimmon Homes in the past, it does it all without grant funding and is totally reliant on volunteers, who are in just as short supply as money.

Last Thursday, the charity fully furnished its 305th house in three years.

The client was ex-Lance Corporal in the Royal Regiment of Wales, Andrew Wilcox, 50, who is now a lorry driver.

Following a relationship breakdown he was left homeless, under huge 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 without a stick of 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 furniture, 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, it receives referrals from up to 30 agencies including the departments of Bridgend County Borough Council, housing associations, the Salvation Army, homelessness charities The Wallich and Llamau, and mental health charity Gofal.

It said it has delivered “a house in a van” to women who have fled abusive relationships, people discharged from long-term hospital stays to empty homes, people with mental health issues who have been allocated accommodation after being discharged, and people who are just too poor to buy furniture from charity shops.

The donated items – it has saved at least 140 tonnes from landfill since 2014 – are stored in a century-old former church in Pontycymmer which it calls The Gothic and also in Julian and Mari-