Shropshire furniture charity founder Jean Jarvis moves on
The founder of a leading Shropshire charity which has been providing furniture for people on low incomes is standing down after nearly 25 years.
Jean Jarvis, who founded The Furniture Scheme in Ludlow in 1994, is leaving her post as chief executive to take up a new role with Wrekin Housing Trust.
But Jean, who is succeeded by operations manager James Cooper, will continue to take a close interest in the charity.
The charity, based at Rockspring Community Centre in Ludlow, collects unwanted furniture, repairs and restores it, and sells them at discounted prices to people on low incomes. It also sells restored furniture to the general public through the Renaissance Centre in Tower Street, with the money raised being used to fund community projects in south Shropshire.
The charity also runs a 'repair cafe' where people can take broken household items to be fixed.
Jean, who was appointed an MBE in 2010, founded the scheme as a way to re-use unwanted household items and provide the means for some of the most deprived in the community to build an independent life.
She said she would miss the day-to-day involvement with the charity, but confident it had a bright future ahead.
“The Furniture Scheme has played such a large part in my life for almost a quarter of a century and I am immensely proud of what we have done and what the charity will continue to do in the future to help some of the most disadvantaged people in our community,” she said.
“It is with mixed emotions that I leave The Furniture Scheme but I thrive on challenge and there is more to be done before I give up work completely and I look forward to what lies ahead.
“I feel sad that I will no longer have regular contact with the staff, volunteers and community. But I know that The Furniture Scheme is in the excellent hands of James Cooper, in whom I have every confidence."
Principles
Jean said the charity had grown significantly over the years, but the principles have remained the same.
“The Furniture Scheme continues to fill a need in the local community and is as important today as when the need was first identified in the early 1990s," she said.
"It gives me great pleasure that we have been able to help so many people in our community and that we have grown and diversified over the years to meet that need.
“I am so proud of all the staff and volunteers who have done so much to make our charity successful."
Over the years, the charity has grown to provide training in carpentry, crafts, customer services and cookery.
It now runs courses leading to recognised qualifications, which can help people find work.
Jean, who has also served as a councillor, said this had been particularly gratifying.
“What has been so rewarding is that we have been able to provide the skills and opportunities for so many people to be the very best that they can be," she said.
James said Jean would be a tough act to follow.
He said: “Jean has been the driving force behind The Furniture Scheme since it started and helped to create a community project which works extremely well.
"She has left us with an extraordinary legacy and I am delighted to be part of it and take on a leading role.
“We wish Jean all the very best in her new position - I can assure her and the public that we will continue the good work and it’s business as usual at The Furniture Scheme.”
For more information about The Furniture Scheme telephone 01584 874922, email info@furniturescheme.co.uk or see the website furniturescheme.co.uk
