‘Giving’ it a go: Active Workplace Group’s first donation is snapped up!
The Active Workplace Group is based in Reading and provides one of the UK’s leading furniture resale, reuse and recycling services. As an ISO:14001 Environmental Management-accredited business, it has a responsibility to promote sustainability and to ensure that the waste it produces (or comes into contact with) is cleared in the most ecologically-friendly way possible.
Although the Active Workplace Group had been signed up to A Good Thing for a while, the firm hadn’t actually used the platform until June 2025, when it uploaded a huge amount of brilliant furniture including 85 beautiful chairs in great condition, some stylish modern tables, a designer meeting table plus 20 radiators.
Really very simple
Adrian Powell, Director at the Active Workplace Group, let us know what a good experience it was:
“We had probably perceived the process to be onerous! Well, we can confirm that the process was, in fact, very simple.”
This sort of feedback is music to our ears at A Good Thing. We often hear businesses telling us how easy it is to donate via the platform, and are delighted that this is the case.
Adrian told us what a good fit A Good Thing was for his firm:
“As a company that completes sustainable office and furniture clearances for our clients, we are always looking to repurpose furniture as opposed to recycling… and A Good Thing provides us with a vehicle to do just that. Everything we have put onto the portal has been snapped up quickly: collections have been speedily arranged and all with very little hassle.”
Done and dusted in just a week!
The Active Workplace Group are commercial space experts, and Adrian explained why the firm tends to end up with things like this to donate:
“This furniture had been cleared during a recent office removal project. The client had no use for it, so we returned the chairs and tables to our warehouse for charity donation. We had an awful lot of interest in all the items; my inbox went crazy! Both charities arranged their own collections, and all the items went to a good home within a week!”
We have so many charities signed up to our platform now right across the UK, and they are often just waiting for a local firm to create a great listing like this one.
Charities are so resourceful and can make use of so much.
Adrian is certainly a convert:
“I have recommended the portal to my colleagues, and our client is happy that some of their old products have been donated to local charities. Of course, we’re also happy that the product hasn’t sat in our warehouse for weeks waiting for someone to take it. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to give it a go!”
Two brilliant charity recipients
The Active Workplace Group’s furniture donations ended up being split between the YMCA England & Wales, Basingstoke Community Radio and Wycombe Multicultural Organisation.
The YMCA England & Wales was matched with radiators, chairs and tables for resale in its charity shop, raising much-needed funds for its important work with young people in the community.
The Basingstoke Community Radio charity was matched with chairs, to be used in its young adults’ training room, as they explained:
“We train young students with learning difficulties to become radio presenters: these chairs would replace our current old ones.”
Wycombe Multicultural Organisation (WMO) was matched with 28 chairs donated by the Active Workplace Group. WMO is a community organisation that manages the Hilltop Community Centre in High Wycombe: Melissa Humphrey, the centre’s manager, told us:
“It was a very easy process; I clicked to request the items and that was it. The process couldn’t have been simpler.”
“The quality was superb”
Melissa told us a bit about how the donated chairs would come in useful:
“The chairs are for our community centre hall users to benefit from. We’ll now be able to offer more comfortable facilities to groups and activities using the space. Some of the participants in our older people’s support group had been struggling with our older chairs – plastic school chairs that were not so comfortable to sit on. The donated chairs exceeded our expectations: the quality was superb. Plus, we had an extra three chairs included, which we weren’t expecting but are very grateful for.”
A real win–win
Sometimes something as simple as some fresh, comfortable chairs can make a huge difference to a local charity. Melissa told us how appreciative WMO is of the donation:
“We are extremely grateful to the A Good Thing platform: it has enabled us to obtain donated items we might not otherwise have been able to afford, therefore being able to serve our local community better with improved facilities and in turn offer access to our vital services. Once again, we’d like to thank the Active Workplace Group for its generosity. Adrian was super helpful and made the process very simple and straightforward. We really appreciate this kind donation.”
A Good Thing allows businesses to repurpose quality items with local organisations via a simple and easy online platform, making the whole donation process seamless and hassle-free.
If you’re signed up and looking for inspiration, take a read through our simple guide How to donate unwanted items to charities | A Good Thing, and make your first offer today!