Charity accused of high prices
Anne Brian claims that people are being priced out of buying from the Community Furniture Project
A NEWBURY woman has claimed that people are being priced out of buying from the Community Furniture Project (CFP).
Anne Brian, of Dene Way, has claimed that the price of furniture has rocketed at the charity, citing the ‘stock highlights' on the charity's website as examples, where a sofa is priced at £120, a wall unit is priced at £150 and a dresser is £180.
Miss Brian said such prices were making the charity “a place for rich people to go who fancy a nice piece of old furniture for their posh houses.”
She said: “People donate to them on the understanding that things will go to someone in need. I can't see how anyone on a low income can actually afford to shop there, even if there is a slightly reduced price for people on benefits.
“I know that people in dire need can get free items, but this involves a referral from social services, and I am sure many people would not want to go through all that hassle.
“So ordinary poor folk are being priced out of a project which ostensibly was set up to help them.”
However, the chief executive of the Newbury Community Resource Centre (NCRC), Kelvin Hughes, has refuted the claims.
He said the charity, which was established in 1997, was still working from a price list that was last revised in 2007, adding that the charity looked to supply items at “an affordable cost.”
He said: “If you take the cost of delivery - that hasn't gone up in seven-and-a-half years and we know that petrol prices have.”
Mr Hughes said the cost of running a local charity had increased in recent years, as he said it had for everyone else, while he said the income generated by the charity through sales only covered approximately 60 per cent of its running costs.
The charity has received several grants and donations, which has helped it start such projects as the local food growing enterprise Growing 2gether, which the charity initiated jointly with West Berkshire Mencap at a former nursery near Kingsclere in 2009.
The project allows the local community, including people with a range of disabilities, to learn horticultural skills and grow their own produce, while it also offers training, volunteering and employment opportunities.
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