Armchair donations

Thu, May 25th 2006, 11:00

Show home furniture has been given a new lease of life with North Ayrshire Women’s Aid, a vital support charity for woman trying to escape domestic abuse.

Redrow has opened the doors to its show home at Dalgarven Meadows in Kilwinning and invited the charity to take the sofas, beds, tables, chairs plus accessories and put them to good use.

The North Ayrshire Women’s Aid deals with the appalling consequences of domestic abuse by providing counselling, support, information and refuge to women and their children who are trying to leave an abusive partner.

The help they provide is crucial as research shows that 1 in 5 women in Scotland experience domestic abuse at some time in their lives.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Women’s Aid says: “We are a charity and fight hard every year for funding to keep us going. For Redrow to provide us with the furniture from its show home is fantastic and we’re very grateful.

“The furniture will be used by women who we’ve helped to re-house. Many of them are working and don’t qualify for grants to help them start again. They come to us with the clothes they’re standing in and nothing else.”

In 2005 the North Ayrshire Women’s Aid received more than 14,000 calls from women seeking support, information and refuge. The charity admitted 112 women with 123 children but had to turn away 49 women and 96 children because of lack of funds and space. Last year 51 families were re-housed and given a fresh start.

Colin Crombie, operations director for Redrow Homes (Scotland) Ltd, says: “We’re absolutely delighted that the North Ayrshire Women’s Aid has been able to put the show home furniture to such good use. The charity has done an incredible job for more than 20 years and relies solely on donations when it comes to equipment for women and children who are moving on to a new life. It’s wonderful that we’re in a position to help them continue the support for the victims of domestic abuse.

“Companies have a responsibility to be seen not only as successful businesses but also as responsible contributors to the communities in which they work. We have always believed Redrow has a wider role in helping to provide social improvement across the communities where we provide homes.”

Redrow holds the Business in the Community (BITC) PerCent Standard. This voluntary benchmark measures the contributions made by companies through cash donations, staff and management time plus gifts in kind. Only companies that invest at least one percent of their pre-tax profits in the community are eligible to join the PerCent Club.