Hopeworx was started as a community outreach project from a church, Christian Growth Centre Rayleigh to seek to find the needs of its community and find ways to alleviate these needs. Initially we concentrated on crisis food packs connecting with various department and organisations, to discover that there was a need for furniture and electrical appliances. We started this using garages but realised that we needed more space for this to be of any benefit to the community. This has developed into us working in association with The Lighthouse Furniture Project Ltd based in Hutton, Brentwood to open a Re-Use Centre for furniture and electrical appliances in Brook Road, Rayleigh. We have a 6000 sq ft warehouse that is open to the general public to come along and browse around our stock and purchase. We accept donations of furniture and appliances and can offer a free of charge collection service, as long as the items comply with our minimum requirements. Any member of the public who has evidence that they are receiving certain benefits will be able to purchase some items at a reduced cost. We also work in partnership with other agencies and organisations to help those that find themselves in crisis and are in urgent need of furniture and appliances. As well as providing affordable, quality, used furniture the Centre also provides a service to the community in preventing such items from being sent to landfill, preserving our environment. There are opportunities for volunteers in many areas of the project - pop in or call us to discuss how you may be able to help. We also aim to help the long-term unemployed to regain confidence, experience and also hopefully the acquiring of a skill to enable a successful application for employment. Together we want to see our community impacted.
