Donated furniture goes to those who need it most

More than 400 tonnes of furniture has been saved from being dumped or going to landfill thanks to a life-changing furniture service from Wheatley Group.  

The housing, care and property-management group runs the Home Comforts programme for tenants who need help to furnish their home. 

Home Comforts takes donated pieces of unwanted furniture, which otherwise may have been dumped, collects and up-cycles it and then distributes it to tenants in need.  

Since 2016, 406 tonnes of furniture – the equivalent of four blue whales, the largest mammal, or two and a half single storey houses – has been recycled and passed to Wheatley Homes Glasgow and Loretto tenants in Glasgow and the west of Scotland. 

At the same time, Home Comforts has helped 4339 households across central Scotland – with 15,952 pieces of furniture, white goods or electrical items passed to tenants in need. 

Alexander McDonald, 57, from the Wyndford, said: "The help I received made such a big difference. I had been sitting without anything: I didn't have a bed, any furniture or even cooking facilities when I got my new home. What Home Comforts gave me was in such a good condition and has given me such a lift.” 

Wheatley Group is investing £100m on sustainability initiatives as part of its ‘Greener Homes, Greener Lives’ campaign.  

Chair of Wheatley Foundation, Professor Paddy Gray OBE, said: “It is great to hear the difference Home Comforts has made to Alexander and thousands of Wheatley customers across the country, since it launched. 

“Home Comforts is a great example of the ‘circular economy’, helping extend the life of quality furniture and appliances, and avoiding an unsustainable waste of resource. It helps tackle our throw away culture, by making best use of what we already have and avoiding yet more consumption. 

“As well as the environmental benefits, Home Comforts provides a lifeline service to tenants who might struggle to furnish their home and could fall into debt buying white goods, electrical items, beds or sofas.”