A SUCCESSFUL charity that provides affordable household goods and offers opportunities to people with disabilities has opened its second premises in Chepstow.

Monmouthshire Upcycle is the latest venture of the Forest Upcycling Project, and opened on Saturday (30th April), having started 22 months ago with just two unpaid volunteers, a second hand van and an empty warehouse. The charity now have nine paid members of staff, 11 regular volunteers, own four vans, many valuable pieces of equipment and operate from three premises jam-packed with donated furniture.

The charity was set up in June 2014 in the Forest of Dean. It started collecting peoples unwanted household goods and re-selling it at very affordable prices to the public, but have since branched out into house removals, gardening/landscaping and odd jobs. It has nine members of staff including three young people with learning disabilities, one recovering heroin addict, two apprentices and one partially deaf man in his 50s suffering from long term depression.

A spokesperson from the charity said: “We focus on employing vulnerable people from the local community who would otherwise struggle to find paid work. At the end of February 2016 we employed our ninth member of staff. Mark is 35 and a recovering heroin addict. He has been volunteering at the project for the last seven months and during this time we insured him on one of our vans on his provisional driving licence.

“Supported by additional driving lessons and theory coaching, paid for and provided by the charity, Mark has now passed his driving test and has joined our team as a paid delivery driver. This is the first job Mark has had in his entire adult life. He couldn’t be prouder of himself and neither could we.

“This is Mark’s opportunity to prove to himself, his children and his key worker that he is fully embracing his life after heroin. We look forward to seeing Mark thrive further in his position with the charity.”

The charity also have a number of other disabled people who also work on the project, including one with autism, two with a learning disability and recently employed a young man with cerebral palsy.

The premises the charity are renting is a warehouse, five minutes walk from Chepstow town centre and opposite the train station, offering plentiful parking. It also has huge potential for future growth as there is enough ceiling height to create a mezzanine level in the future.

For more information about the charity visit www.forestupcy

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