From sofas to storage crates, how one donation is helping two communities to thrive.

At A Good Thing we make matches between businesses with items to donate and charities who can re use them. This is one of our recent successful matches.

A property development company recently donated a sofa and two chairs, along with 30 sturdy plastic storage crates, through A Good Thing. The furniture found a new home at 3Space in central London and the crates went to Mrs Burney’s Bee Club CIC in Croydon to support a school’s playground project.

Furniture that brings people together at 3Space

3Space is a UK charity that repurposes buildings to create ‘spaces for public good’. At its latest project, 3Space Warren Street, grassroots groups use desks free of charge thanks to the charity’s ‘BuyGiveWork’ model. The donated sofa and chairs now form a breakout area on a community floor used daily for work, meetings and relaxing.

Matt Scaysbrook from 3Space explained that collecting the furniture wasn’t entirely straightforward:

“We hired a van to collect it all from Peckham, which was the only difficult part of the process – the sofa would not fit through the back entrance so we had to load up on Rye Lane and I got a couple of parking tickets, but useful lessons learned…! Getting it back to Warren Street and into the building was easy.”

Small challenges like these never get in the way when it comes to reusing good items and giving them a second life. Overall, the experience was a good one for 3Space:

“We applied as soon as we saw the listing and were delighted to be selected. It’s now a favourite hangout space for the organisations using the floor.”

This wasn’t 3Space’s first time using A Good Thing, and it plans to keep doing so in future. You can read about its first successful match in this story: “From our office to yours – chairs delivered, impact made”.

Clever storage that powers play at Mrs Burney’s Bee Club CIC

The 30 plastic crates were requested by Mrs Burney’s Bee Club CIC on behalf of a school it works with. Known for connecting children and adults to nature through beekeeping sessions, school workshops and family experiences, this organisation brings resources and opportunities into schools.

At a London school, the crates are now being used to store equipment for an Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) playground. Children can now easily choose from a wide range of activities during breaktimes. Mrs Burney’s Bee Club told us:

“The school is developing a new playground experience, with different enriching activities. We are using all of the crates for organised storage.”

The difference it makes
 • Extending the life of quality items, keeping furniture and materials out of landfill.
 • Boosting community capacity, as 3Space provides space and support for almost 100 non-profits in London.
 • Enriching school play, with the crates helping Outdoor Play and Learning run smoothly and giving children more choice in how they spend their break.

Less to landfill, more to a good cause.

If this has inspired you to learn more about how you can join us in sending less to landfill and more to good causes, then you can find out how we help businesses and charities by clicking the button below.