Island charity Storeroom is now the owner of its premises on Mariner’s Way in Cowes. The charity collects donated furniture and sells it at an affordable cost to people across the island. Storeroom took on ownership of the building earlier this month, at the same time as the charity celebrated its sixth birthday.
Storeroom2010 was given a new lease of life by Nick & Wendy Miller when previous funding for the project ceased. Storeroom has also developed an Education department that helps disadvantaged people by providing them with accredited skills gap training, such as carpentry and joinery.
Storeroom spoke with the social investor Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) to undertake a major project to purchase its premises on Mariner’s Way. After significant effort from all sides, including major grant support from Power to Change of £80,000, unlocking a SASC loan of £364,000, as well as raising a Garfield Weston Foundation grant, the trustees and team of Storeroom are proud to confirm the purchase has been completed, to secure Storeroom’s future.
Ben Rick, Managing Director of SASC, commented: “We are very pleased to have supported Nick and Wendy to navigate the journey to buy the building at 1 Mariner’s Way. SASC’s investment, along with support from our partners at Power to Change and also Garfield Weston, will enable them to continue to tackle poverty on the island, preserve the environment by reducing landfill, and decrease the levels of unemployment through effective training.”
Marie Staunton, Interim CEO of Power to Change, said: “Storeroom is a fantastic example of a community business in action. The project was revived by Nick and Wendy and benefits the whole island community by providing affordable furniture, Storeroom helps improve people’s quality of life, boosts the local economy and now offers the opportunity to develop practical skills such as joinery and carpentry, through accredited training. It’s really great news that our support along with that of our partners has helped Storeroom to purchase these premises so vital to their future.”
Nick Miller, Manager of Storeroom, noted: “There are relatively few buildings that could serve our needs for the storage and distribution of re-usable furniture on the island. Having acquired the adjacent building last year for our Education work, we were delighted to have the support of SASC, Power to Change, Garfield Weston and our solicitors Eldridges to buy the building and secure our future so that we can continue to serve the people of the island.”
The charity is open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 4pm.
