Member Article

Retailer supports local charity

A donation of flooring from a Swansea-based retailer will provide a solid base for the expansion of support offered to vulnerable people in the city.

The donation by Flooring Superstore, which is based on Cwmdu Park, will complete the refurbishment of a room in Matthew’s House to allow the preparation, storage, and supply of “dignity” packs to hundreds in need each year.

Known as the “House of Hospitality” Matthew’s House was originally set up as a café to convert surplus supermarket food into delicious ‘home-cooked’ style meals available to all, but particularly those who are homeless or vulnerable.

More recently it has also put together and supplied dignity packs which include sanitary products, underwear, deodorants, soap and shaving items, toothbrush and paste to be distributed to the city’s homeless.

With demand increasing, the room refurbishment, which also includes painting and shelving, will provide a dedicated space for packs to be put together and stored so there will always be a supply at hand.

Project manager Thom Lynch said: “The development of this room is much needed but as a charity it would have been very difficult to find the money to fund it all which is why donations from Flooring Superstore and others are so important.

“The work will allow us to become more efficient meeting the demand for these packs as well as improving conditions for our much-valued volunteers to work in.”

The storeroom will ensure a stock of 60-80 boxes is always at hand, with Matthew’s House expecting to supply over 1,000 boxes each year to GP surgeries, social services, hostels, and other charities helping the homeless, rough sleepers, asylum seekers, those with addictions and anyone else in need.

“People find themselves homeless for a wide range of reasons and these boxes can help people maintain dignity during a very tough time,” said Thom.

Matthew’s House chose from Flooring Superstore’s real wood feel EvoCore Origins range. As well as being waterproof and scratch resistant, the click-lock system makes installation much quicker and the pre-applied foam cushion means there is no need to purchase underlay separately.

Flooring Superstore Regional Manager Nathan Pritchard, said: “Matthew’s House does an amazing job helping people which are homeless or vulnerable and given the circumstances of the last 18 months, their work has never been more important.

“This is exactly the sort of organisation our corporate social responsibility programme was set up to help, and we’re pleased to have been make our own small contribution to the work of Matthew’s House.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Neil Shaefer .