charity | HFS - Part 2

Not all

12/12/2018H F SBexhill, charity, confidence, employment, everyday hero, Hastings, hero, heroes wear capes, new year resolutions, out of work, skills, unemployed, volunteer, volunteering, work, work experience, work-based training

We couldn’t collect, reuse and deliver over 300 tonnes of furniture and electrical goods every year without our team of amazing volunteers like Dan.

Dan is volunteering at HFS Bexhill while he is looking for work.

Store Manager Gerald says “Since he started volunteering, Dan has gained the experience and confidence to play a full part in the team. He’s a real asset for us, helping out with collections and deliveries, and also helping in the store. It’s great to see people like Dan join us and develop their skills so they can move on into work.”

Be like Dan! If you can spare a few hours, we need more volunteers at both stores most days, including Saturdays. Find out more about volunteering here.

Thrift Fest is this Saturday!

20/09/2018H F S22nd september 2018, accessible, active, activities, activity, affordable, art, arts, bargain, Battle, Bexhill, bicycle, bike carpentry, charity, class, club, Community, craft, create, creative, disability, do, earth, eco, events, family day out, festival, festival of thrift, free, fun, furniture, green, Hastings, help, join, lesson, local, low-cost, make, making, mental health, plastic-free, print, recycling, reuse, saturday, something to do this weekend, sussex, thrift fest, thriftfest, volunteer, wellbeing, workshop

The big day is Saturday 22nd September!

We’re celebrating 30 years of furniture reuse with a whole day of community activities at the Hastings Centre on the Ridge (opposite Conquest Hospital).

Please join us and have fun making, doing and trying new activities that don’t cost the earth!

Free advance tickets are available until the end of Friday on Eventbrite, or you can pay just £1 per adult on the door.

The programme and ticket link are on our website here.

Give us a tip

25/08/2018H F Sactivity, affordable, Battle, benefits, Bexhill, charity, cheap, Community, course, day out, DIY, eco, event, exercise, free, Free family events, fun day, Hastings, health, learn, live well, local, low income, low-cost, Rother, saving, sport, St Leonards, talk, thrift, upcycling, wellbeing, workshop

HFS was established 30 years ago this year.

To celebrate our 3 decades of furntiure reuse, HFS is hosting “Thrift Fest” at the Hastings Centre on Saturday 22^nd September, where we will launch a crowd-sourced Thrifty Tips book.

Thrift Fest is a day showcasing way to live a fun-filled, creative, active, rich life without costing the earth. The day will be packed full of activities, workshops and entertainment provided by local community groups, reflecting the ethos of HFS: DIY, reuse, upcycling, sharing practical skills, and being active in the community.

Have you got a thrifty tip to share? Individuals and organisations that successfully submit a Thrifty Tip for the book will be named in print and receive a free copy at Thrift Fest.

Send your ideas to thrifty@hfs.org.uk by the end of August.

The book will be designed and printed locally by HFS supporters. Copies will be available for sale with all proceeds going to the charity.

Don’t forget to order your free book-in-advance tickets for Thrift Fest on 22^nd September!

New look

27/07/2018H F Sadvertising, branding, charity, furniture, marketing, signwriting, van

We’re refreshing the look of our fleet of collection and delivery vans over the next few weeks, thanks to Thomas Design & Graphics in St Leonards.

We hope the new design will catch your eye when you see us out and about, and help people become more aware of our services.

As a small local charity we don’t have much of an advertising budget, so we want to make the most of these “mobile billboards”.

Part of the new design is the statement fighting furniture poverty since 1988 – 30 years this year! Check out our anniversary celebration ThriftFest on Sat 22nd September.

Work with us!

14/07/2018H F Sactive jobs, Bexhill, charity, charity job, clearance, driver, driving, employment, envrionment, furniture, green job, Hastings, job, job ad, job search, lifting, manual handling, outdoor job, recycling, removals, reuse, Rother, situation vacant, vacancy

We will really miss Robyn, who is leaving us to join her family’s business and train to be a Plumber. Watch the interview with her about her role at HFS (click play above).

We are looking for someone with the same positive attitude, love of active work, friendly but professional communication skills and enjoyment of coaching and helping others.

Could it be you?

Changing our times

01/07/2018H F Sbargain, benefit, Bexhill, bulky, bureau, Catsfield, chair, charity, chest, clearance, coffee table, collect, collection, Community, desk, dining set, dispose, donate, drawers, dressing table, eco, family, free collections, furnish, furniture, good quality, green, Hastings, help, home, household, Little Common, low income, Ninfield, office furniture, Old Town, Ore, paint, pension, preloved, recycle, remove, reuse, Rother, Rye, secondhand furniture, Sidley, Silverhill, sofa, St Leonards, student, table, team, upcycle, used, volunteering, volunteers, wardrobe, Westfield

We’ve simplified our opening times. From 1st July 2018 we will be open from 9.30–4.30 every day from Tuesday to Saturday.

This means there will be more time for our Saturday shoppers to explore our stores.

We will also be able to provide some collections and deliveries on Saturdays for folk who cannot take time off work during the week.

We will be closed so our team can rest on Sundays and Mondays.

Podcast features HFS

29/06/2018H F SBexhill, cause, charity, comedy, furniture, Hastings, interview, listen, local, manifesto, Mark Thomas, partly political podcast, podcast, politics, reuse, small charities week, Tiernan Douieb

HFS featured in Tiernan Douieb’s Partly Political Podcast.

Tiernan compered our fantastic comedy fund-raiser in May and wanted to feature HFS as part of Small Charities Week.

We talk about the challenges and joys of running a small local charity, the issues affecting people in our area, how policies affect us and how people can get involved and support us.

Listen to the Partly Political Podcast (Contains some swearing. Interview starts approx 20 mins into episode)

Photo of Tiernan Douieb and Mark Thomas on stage at De La Warr Pavilion in May by Bob Mazzer

Thank You

20/06/2018H F Sburlesque, charity, dv, fundraiser, refuge, women

Hastings Burlesque’s ‘Before they were Famous’ show at The Palace on June 9th raised an impressive £270 for our Refuge workshops!

Thanks to everyone who supported the event and bought our “Naughty or Nice” raffle tickets – and to performer Miss Elsie May for this fab shot with our Re-use Manifesto.

Our Workshop on Wheels visits local Refuges to help women who have survived domestic violence build confidence with DIY skills and make items for their new homes.

We are really grateful to Hastings Burlesque for their support.

Mark Thomas & Friends

21/05/2018H F SBexhill, Bridget Christie, charity, comedy, Daniel Kitson, De La Warr Pavilion, Friday 25th May 2018, fundraiser, Hastings, Jonny & the Baptists, Mark Thomas, Robin Ince, Shazia Mirza, St Leonards, Tiernan Douieb

Brilliant line-up of comedians perform to raise funds for HFS starter packs

We are really grateful to everyone who bought tickets to our fund-raiser on Fri 25th May. You helped raise funds to supply starter packs of essential household items for households in crisis and you were a lovely audience for our comedians.

Thanks to all the performers: Mark Thomas / Daniel Kitson / Bridget Christie / Robin Ince / Shazia Mirza / Jay Foreman / Tiernan Douieb

We are also grateful to all the local companies and artists that donated products for Goody Bags to thank our performers: Borough Wines, Beers and Books, Carr Taylor Vineyards, Claire Fletcher, the De La Warr Pavilion, The Hastings Lemon Ketchup Company, Hastings Old Town Rock Shop, Leroy Henry, Martel Colour Print, No Plastics Shop, Pea Crabtree, Peter Quinnell, Trinity Wholefoods and Wow and Flutter.

Read more about the event and our starter packs here.

Bags of help!

07/02/2018H F Sbags of help, Bexhill, charity, confidence, experience, friendly, Groundwork, Hastings, help, join, support, team, Tesco, volunteer, volunteering

Thanks to hundreds of local Tesco shoppers for voting for HFS – we won £2,000!

The funds will help us support volunteers to gain skills, confidence and experience. A lot of our volunteers need support to take on their role with us and to build up towards moving on into training or work.

Thanks to your support we can help more people.

Our friendly team can’t wait to welcome more members!

Read more about volunteering with HFS.