Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Where do you get your referrals from?
A: We get our referrals from social workers, community support workers, churches, debt advisors, non-profits and social prescribers. We carry out an assessment process for each referral to find out how we can best help them. We aim to respond to referrals as quickly as we are able to.
Q: Are you affiliated with a church?
A: Although most of our volunteers happen to be a part of one church or another, we are an independent CIO and are not officially affiliated with any churches.
Q: Do you sell any of your items?
A: We do not sell any of the furniture items we have in our building. They are ready to be given away as soon as a need arises.
Q: What about unsolicited donations?
A: As we are not a traditional warehouse and only have a limited amount of storage room, it is important for us to guard our space in order to leave enough room for the rest of our activities. This is largely why we only accept high quality furniture items and tend to turn away unsolicited doorstep offers that do not meet our needs or criteria.
Q: Where do you collect from and deliver to?
A: Our primary catchment area is between Pulborough and Southwick, but we do deliver to homes between Brighton and Worthing. We commit to a delivery only once we have assessed that the items being offered are up to our quality standards for the people we work with.
Q: What things don't you want?
A: We don't work with electrical goods, white goods (fridges, washing machines, dishwashers, etc.), baby and toddler items, damaged items, clothing, and sofas without fire tags. We also tend to turn away items that we already have an excess of or that do not meet the quality criteria for the houses that we work with.
Q: How do I give?
A: You can choose whether to give time, money or things. If you would like to give items, please note that we will have to assess your offer through photos before we can commit to accepting anything. If you are thinking about giving time, please visit the time-giving page and fill out the linked form. If you would like to give money, please follow the link to the financial giving page. We love to meet our donors and potential donors and give them a tour of the Warehouse; please send us an email or phone us if that is something you would be interested in. Thank you!
Q: Who are your recipients?
A: Our recipients are individuals and families in moments of crisis, whether they are being rehoused, escaping domestic violence, starting again after having been made homeless or escaping conflict as a refugee. The vast majority of our recipients are unsupported and isolated, without family or anyone else to call on. Many of them are starting out with just the four bare walls of their accommodation, and are either on benefits or are out of work for a variety of different reasons, anxious about how they are going to survive. We conduct assessments of needs and work with our recipients until they have been met.
Q: How would you use my financial donation?
A: Your financial gift would go into our general fund to cover vehicle costs, general overheads, packaging for our weekly food program, community lunches, counselling services and other one-off expenses. Alternatively, it could be diverted into our winter fuel, food and special assistance fund, including the purchase of white goods for some of our most needy recipients.
