Furniture Help Scheme

The primary aim of CDFHS is to provide any individual in need with low-cost, affordable items - primarily furniture, but our scope has expanded in recent years to include all types of household items.

We collect, repair and redistribute items from the County Durham area which would otherwise go into landfill, while also making available thousands of items of furniture and household goods every year to people from the region. We are widely recognised for our positive environmental impact and helped save some 150 tonnes of items from entering the refuse system in the last year alone!

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Training & Employment

At County Durham Furniture Help Scheme we believe in giving more to the community and so we provide the chance to learn key skills at our establishment from carpentry through to IT tech.

Whether you volunteer or are here on placement we guarantee that you will leave with valuable experience (that all employers look for) and some new skills to add to your CV. This also includes a one-to-one session with our Training and Employment Coordinator, Steve Mitton, who will craft a tailor made CV for you.

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White Goods Project

We, at CDFHS, have realised there is a massive need for white goods and so our White Goods Project has been set in place to take reusable white goods and perform a thorough inspection test and maintenance so that perfectly fine items can be reused by you, the community.

So please don't scrap that old washing machine donate it to us and the help the community today.

Computer Services

Our Computer Services department specialises in computer repairs and maintenance.

Come to us for computer repairs for a very low cost or to buy a pre-built machine for your own personal needs. Also as an added perk of being a volunteer you could walk away with a free PC if you meet the requirements necessary. Any donations of old computers are also welcomed or even any spare parts you may have lying around in a reasonable condition.

Green Move Out

The Green Move Out scheme is a partnership project involving Durham University Durham County Council, Durham Constabulary and the County Durham Furniture Help Scheme (CDFHS).

CDFHS and the partnership have started this year's work to ensure that donations of goods are collected brought here to CDFHS and further redistributed to those in need in the community, stricken by disadvantage or just plain wanting a low cost alternative to paying for new goods.

This arrangement benefits the city and its residents, by helping keep the streets clean and avoiding excessive build-up of waste, that perfectly re-usable goods don’t enter the waste chain, basically that these unwanted goods go to good use.

Continue to Durham University >>

Rural Refurb

The project will enable the organisation to refurbish waste goods, primarily furniture items, to provide training and work experience for individuals from rural and economically deprived areas. This excludes items with upholstery as do not have the capacity to repair them.

Training will include: Stripping of paint, varnish, sanding, minor woodwork, use of tools, general hand skills and repainting and spraying. Individuals would be taken through a full range of activities as part of a structured experience-gaining programme, and their progress documented.

Find out more about the project here >>

ReBike

The ReBike Scheme has been set in motion thanks to our funders and partners at Local Motion Darlington to help provide and maintain bicycles for the community. This includes helping promote healthier and cleaner alternatives to driving.

As a service we will offer bicycle maintenance for a small donation and also will collect and accept bicycle donations for refurbishment and resale to the community.

Community RePaint

Community RePaint schemes collect reusable, leftover paint and re-distribute it to individuals, families, communities and charities in need, improving the well-being of people and the appearance of places across the UK.

We ask you to come down to the warehouse and have a look at the stock we currently have and pay a small donation for any paint you would like.

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  • Bed Sale Image

    January Bed Sale



    Offer includes a brand new base, mattress and teddy bear for only ÂŁ100!

    Offer is for the first 5 customer only, T&Cs apply.

    * Headboard sold separately *



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    New Beds



    New beds by Dreamode – we start with their basic Winchester range and now stock: Windsor, Oxford, Mayfair and Crown – Orthopedic beds at remarkable prices.



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    Flatpack Furniture.



    Flatpack furniture by GFW, 3 piece bedroom sets, 4 piece bedroom sets, various cabinets and quality “flat pack” furniture.



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    New Electricals.

    New electrical appliances by Discount Appliance Distributors (DAD Online).

    Cookers, Washing Machines, Tumble dryers, Fridge Freezers and much more



Latest News

Release date September 20th, 2023.

Welcome to the CDFHS Website for 2023-2024.

After working for CDFHS since 2011 Shannon Heightley has left us and moved on to a new role in Alcohol and Drugs support at Humankind. A sad day.

Also proof positive that as a scheme that focuses on its people we can get them in to shape for a different career and a new future. Shannon was also happily married this last year so she takes her new name forward.

Front Office and CDFHS will be changing style of service and amongst other things, improving our telephone answering, has been a sore point for some time with our customers. We are expanding this service by using Internet Phones. Once we have this enabled we can take and go back to messages 7 days per week.

This is a particularly important part of our service that we need to provide to our donors of unwanted household goods and belongings. Basically, that we become faultless at taking messages at all times and to reliably get back to those important people who give us their items that we in turn can help those disadvantaged across the county to acquire low cost pre-used items from these magnificent donations.

We now operating two modern collection vehicles, complete with tail-lifts to provide support to our crews some of whom are physically disadvantaged – we support all with disabilities where we can and are a registered “disability friendly employer”. We still come out to pre-arranged collections and booked appointed deliveries.

These service improvements come with a hefty sting in the tail – we now sadly have to ask our donors for additional support to keep our service improvements tip top. Our free collection service is ceasing. More will follow regarding costs, we will discuss this with every donor as we need to justify this stance and its possible side effects.

Additionally, as to the expansion of our service provision – that does need to be paid for we cannot grow vehicles on trees. The war in Ukraine plays havoc with our fuel cost. We have supported many Ukrainians, some now incredibly and disgracefully having been made homeless IN THIS COUNTRY!

Please note in the meantime CDFHS are still here in our three warehouses on Chilton Industrial Estate – Note very carefully our opening times. We have staff who like many have children – we have adapted our service not just here but also for our customers when arranging collections and deliveries. We make our appointments after “the School Run” for example.

We still have our massive range of recycled and pre-loved stock items. We listen to all constructive comment, but as human beings please bear with us as we adapt to the challenging times confronting charities in particular – we still have to buy stuff, pay for fuel, insurances and wages where justified.

We also are making great strides forward with our NEW stock items, our bed range is priced to compete from the basics to now include Orthopaedics and some truly stunning frame beds.

New website content coming…… Call in at Chilton or ring 01388-721509 email info@cdfhs.org.uk

Opening Times

  • Monday: 9.00-3.00
  • Tuesday: 9.00-2.00
  • Wednesday:9.00-3.00
  • Thursday: 9.00-2.00
  • Friday: 9.00-3.00
  • Saturday: 10.00-1.00
  • (by appointment only)
  • Sunday: Closed

For emergencies ring: 07709-088426



Now Accepting Card Payments!

Our recent improvements allow us to now accept both cash and card donations.

Contact Information

Our Warehouse

Unit 19 & 20, Avenue 3, Chilton Industrial Estate
County Durham, DL17 0PB

Charity Number: 1112344
VAT Number: 316 4266 14
Phone: 01388 721509
Email: info@cdfhs.org.uk


Volunteer at CDFHS

Download our application form and bring it to us here at CDFHS for a guaranteed interview.


Partners

Durham University Wrap Local Motion Monkey Profound Services Great Annual Savings Procter and Gamble Kier Construction Durham Christian Partnership Cornforth Partnership Shaw Trust Durham Food Bank Durham County Council Business Durham Area Action Partnerships Durhamworks Advice in County Durham WA Smith Community Repaint J. Denham Metals Pioneering Care Partnership Team Wearside New Walk CIC Northumbria University National Career Service Livin Mears Group Newton News Ferryhill and Chilton Chapter


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