A NEW shop is rescuing unwanted furniture from the scrap heap to provide practical skills for job-seeking residents.

The ReStore St Helens shop is the brainchild of Changing Communities - a Community Interest Company established by The Hope Centre - which will see unwanted household furniture repaired and re-used instead of being thrown away.

The new shop on Peckers Hill Road in Sutton Junction, houses an on-site workshop where volunteers repair, restore and upcycle donated furniture – anything from dining tables, chairs and bookcases, to drawers, desks, wardrobes and cupboards.

Any waste wood or by-product is used to create new items such as garden planters, benches and ornaments.

All items are sold in the shop with any profits being ploughed back into the venture.

By the end of the project it is hoped that well over a tonne of furniture will have been repaired and upcycled. If successful ReStore will look to develop the re-use and upcycling of a wider range of furniture such as sofas and white goods.

The Project Manager at ReStore Julie Waring said: “St Helens has a number of well-established charity and commercial second hand furniture shops, proving there is a strong market for second hand furniture.

"However, these organisations don’t tend to repair or upcycle household furniture. ReStore will take unwanted furniture that would otherwise become waste.

"We will add life and value to these items, preventing them from entering the waste stream and avoiding new items being purchased.

“We’re basically creating something new and desirable from something old and unwanted.”

ReStore is primarily volunteer run and as well as refurbishing unwanted furniture is also providing opportunities for long-term unemployed individuals with mild/moderate mental wellbeing issues.

Using The Hope Centre’s volunteer network, 24 participants are being given the opportunity to learn DIY and retail skills, giving practical experience of working routines to help gain employment; this will include 10 volunteers, four people seeking work and 10 residents.

Marie Rimmer OBE MP for St Helens South and Whiston, said: “Sutton Village is one of the oldest communities in the borough and it’s great to see ReStore St Helens providing a valuable service in this area.

"ReStore offers the opportunity to upcycle furniture items, which may have gone to landfill, whilst at the same time offering skills and work experience to local people.

“This is yet another example of the valuable service The Hope Centre provides in supporting the local community and I know this project will go from strength to strength.”