Keighley Furniture Project

Keighley Furniture Project has celebrated 30 years of helping needy people across the town.

The charity has been providing low-cost, second-hand household items to people on benefits since 1979.

It is now considering changing its name to reflect the wider range of services it has taken on in recent years.

This includes recycling “white goods” and providing training in carpentry and catering.

The proposed new title, the Springfield Project, would name-check the charity’s base at Springfield Mills, in Oakworth Road.

The project owns the building and acts as landlord to several voluntary sector and disability groups.

The name change proposal was revealed by trustees’ chairman Isobel Scarborough at the recent annual meeting.

In her report she described the Furniture Project as “Keighley’s hidden treasure”.

The trustees also threw a party for supporters past and present to mark the project’s 30th birthday.

Guests included Joan Sherlock, the Keighley volunteer co-ordinator who founded the project.

In her annual report Mrs Scarborough thanked the many groups, individuals and grant-givers who had helped the Project prosper over the years. She praised the “tenacity, vision and expertise” of manager Ann Sheriff, manager for about two decades but a volunteer since the project began in 1979.

Mrs Scarborough also acknowledged the mill’s tenant groups, which she said helped create a family atmosphere in the building.

Ann Sheriff said several people central to Keighley’s voluntary sector in past decades saw each other for the first time in years.

The original Furniture Store was part of Keighley Council for Voluntary Services, run by volunteers with drivers and helpers provided by Community Service.

Gradually the project gathered paid staff and in 2001 broke away from Keighley Voluntary Services to become an independent charity.

Later that decade the project gained funding from the lottery and the John Paul Getty Trust and bought Springfield Mills.

The project is always seeking donations of household items, particularly white goods like cookers, fridges and washing machines.

It can be contacted on 01535 601999.