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Property company donates show home furniture to charity

Jim Palmer, James Sinnott, Andy Brown and Tracey Littlejohns from the Helping Hands Community Project with Stephanie Green from AC Lloyd Homes

A charity which improves the lives of people in need in Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth has received a much-needed donation for its House2Home scheme.

Warwick-based property development company AC Lloyd Homes has donated the furniture from the show home at its Oakley Grove development in Leamington to the Helping Hands Community Project.

The House2Home initiative provides furniture and household goods to families who have been referred by local councils, children’s centres, the Citizens Advice Bureau, the probation service and other charities.

Due to the pandemic, the charity located in Gloucester Street in Leamington is only currently dealing with emergency re-homing needs.

Tracey Littlejohns, community support worker at Helping Hands’ House2Home project, said the donation from AC Lloyd was extremely timely.

“We are extremely grateful to AC Lloyd for the donation of a wide range of items from its show home because it is not very often that we receive new furniture,” she said.

“This project was set-up six years ago in a little shed and has grown and grown as we have had more donations of furniture.

“We deal with various agencies to help people that are homeless or have low incomes with household items as they move into permanent accommodation.

“As soon as we receive donations, we find the right home for them because we are short at the moment and it would be fantastic if other businesses or organisations could also give any unwanted furniture because there is a huge demand.”

Stephanie Green, sales and marketing manager at AC Lloyd Homes, added: “This is a tough time for many families due to the pandemic and we are glad to have played a part in making their life a little easier by giving the beds, settee and other furniture from our Oakley Grove development to this fantastic House2Home project.”

“As soon as we receive donations, we find the right home for them because we are short at the moment and it would be fantastic if other businesses or organisations could also give any unwanted furniture because there is a huge demand.”

“As time went on during the first lockdown, we received more and more donations. We were very thankful to the public, but we found it difficult to find a suitable space for all the food.”

Warwick foodbank moves into bigger warehouse with help from law firm

A Warwickshire foodbank will be able to reach vulnerable people more easily after a well-known law firm donated its time to agree a lease for a new warehouse and office space on the organisation’s behalf.

Warwick District Foodbank is already moving its stocks of food into its new warehouse at Trident Business Centre after Wright Hassall negotiated a five-year lease on the premises for the organisation.

The charity will also move its office to the 190 m2 site after previously basing itself in a church hall.

The foodbank is one of four local charities Wright Hassall is supporting as part of its bid to raise £17,500 to split between them to mark its 175th anniversary.

As such, Wright Hassall offered to negotiate on behalf of the foodbank pro bono. David Witham, chair of trustees at Warwick District Foodbank, said: “When the pandemic started, we had food stored all over the district, which made us less efficient.

“As time went on during the first lockdown, we received more and more donations. We were very thankful to the public, but we found it difficult to find a suitable space for all the food.

“We started looking for premises in the autumn of 2020, and although the space at the Trident Business Centre wasn’t the cheapest, it was very well suited to our needs.

“We knew Wright Hassall was a well-regarded law firm in the area, and we were delighted when they donated their services to us for free.”

Kylie Cooper, senior associate in commercial real estate at Wright Hassall, said: “The pandemic put a lot of pressure on the foodbank through increased demand and having to process more donations, so for it to have a bigger space will really help it operate more efficiently.”

David Witham, chair of trustees at Warwick District Foodbank, (left) with Kylie Cooper, Senior Associate in Commercial Real Estate at Wright Hassall, outside Warwick District Foodbank’s new premises at Trident Business Centre

EMKA announces fittings program for the building industry

EMKA is pleased to announce availability of its handles, hinges, spring latches, wing knobs, locks, door bolts, hinges and window locks for the booming construction industry to install on windows and doors.

The company said it could meet even the highest demands of the most challenging buildings as well as the more common requirements of residential projects.

As building hardware such as bolts and hinges, toggle latches, box handles or cylinder locks are elementary components of numerous trades in the building industry, EMKA now has a focus on these items. It offers products for various plastic, wood and metal applications – from simple bolts for locking garden gates or crates, cylinder locks for letterboxes, or lockers to complex locking mechanisms for the interior of windows and doors.

A well-known example is London’s The Shard, which is the tallest glass building in Europe and impressive proof of flexibility and technical competence. Supplying more than 5,000 window fittings for The Shard, EMKA proved to have the right product for every application and the capacity to deliver large numbers of sophisticated fittings on a just-in-time-and-place schedule.

Further information on the EMKA fittings program for the building industry can be found at www.emka.com/uk_en/ sectors/fittings-for-the-buildingindustry/