Northampton charity thanks housebuilder for donation to help give secondhand furniture to people in need

A Northampton-based charity which distributes secondhand furniture to people in need has received a timely boost from a local housebuilder.

Davidsons Homes has donated £250 to Spencer Contact to help cover the running costs of one of its delivery vans following a drop in fundraising income during the pandemic.

Based at a 12,000-foot warehouse off Gladstone Close, Spencer Contact is run by a mix of staff and volunteers who collect donations of unwanted furniture and deliver them to residents in financial hardship.

The non-profit organisation was one of two charities nominated to receive a donation by residents in Hanslope, where Davidsons Homes is currently building at The Wheatfields development. The housebuilder invited villagers, through its Hanslope Herald magazine, to put forward good causes worthy of support.

While the pandemic has slowed activity due to staff being unable to enter people’s homes, Spencer Contact has continued to safely provide basic furniture items, such as bedding packs and kitchen crockery, on the doorsteps of those in desperate need.

Steve Scarsbrook, general manager for Spencer Contact, said: “I’d like to thank Davidsons Homes for their kind donation which will go towards funding the road tax of one of our vans that we use to deliver furniture most working days.

“Our usual fundraising activities have been put on hold over the past year. These include our ‘sleep on the floor night’ campaign with local schools, along with our three annual sales events where we sell non-essential furniture to local people, which typically raise a proportion of our funds towards annual operating costs.

“As a result, we are more reliant than ever on donations from private individuals and businesses, like Davidsons Homes, to help fund our work in this under-privileged area.”

Simon Tyler, Sales Director for Davidsons Homes South Midlands, commented: “We are pleased to be supporting a charity that supplies much-needed furniture – something that many of us take for granted – to people in financial hardship.

“Spencer Contact has continued to provide an important service throughout the pandemic, and we feel privileged to be helping to fund the running of their vans which play such a vital role in their work.”

The organisation’s website contains details on ways that individuals can receive or show support, including the villages that are covered and a list detailing how cash donations are used. For more information, visit spencercontact.com.