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"4 Million children in the UK live in households that can not afford to replace worn out or broken furniture, and 3 Million children live in households that can not afford to replace broken electrical items" - Department of Work & Pensions March 2007
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Social Concern
This is an appalling indictment of our society, but we leave the politics to others. Our aim is to alleviate the problem in the most practical way we can.
If you are in this situation, the first thing to remember is that you are not alone. Every year families across our region find themselves in need due to circumstances beyond their control. We work to help families who often have nowhere else left to turn. In 2010 we helped over 20,000 families, and by supporting families to help them stay together, we believe we give them the best possible opportunity to recover from their present situation.
Even so, we know that there are still many families where the children do not have a decent bed of their own. We also offer a selection of toys as we understand that far from being a luxury, children learn about the world through play, but many don’t have access to the essential furniture and appliances which the rest of us take for granted every day.
Our beneficiaries arrive at situations of urgent need or outright crisis for all sorts of reasons: the breakdown of inter-family relationships, domestic abuse, marriage or relationship breakdowns, leaving Local Authority Care, leaving custodial sentences or the need to flee racial or homophobic harassment. Today there is a reduced capacity within family units or neighbourhoods to supply the necessary material to enable a person in need to establish a new place to live. Many of the settlements that we supply goods to are former mining communities, which have not had any alternative employment opportunities since their pits closed leading to many decades of every decreasing social capital.
According to the indices of Multiple Deprivation, there are 51 wards in County Durham in the 10% most deprived in England, more specifically; 69 wards are in the top 10% most deprived for employment; 41 are in the top 10% most deprived for income; 27 are in the top 10% most deprived for child poverty. 
The project aim is to provide facilities to enable a transfer of reusable goods from affluent districts to deprived districts across the whole of County Durham.
Source: “Miserable Measures” - NHS May 2003
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