Councillor Fay Howard toured the Swindon branch of KFR to learn more about its work providing affordable and free household goods to people in need.
KFR operates in Swindon and Devizes, collecting donated furniture and white goods before refurbishing or reselling them at low cost. Essential items are also distributed free of charge through a dedicated provision fund for those in crisis.
During the visit, general manager Vicky Ellis explained how the Swindon operation has recently evolved.
She said:
“October last year, so we’ve been two years as Upcycle, so that’s what, like you say, most people know us as. We decided to merge with KFR over in Devizes.
They’re a Wiltshire-based charity. We wanted to kind of help more people in our local community here in Swindon, so it just felt like the perfect match, really, to kind of go together, and it’s been amazing ever since.”
The merger brought Swindon’s former Upcycle project under the wider KFR umbrella, expanding its reach across the county.
According to the charity’s website, in 2024 KFR gave away more than £180,000 worth of furniture and white goods free of charge to individuals and families in crisis. It also supported the equivalent of more than 8,000 households through the sale of preloved goods and diverted significant amounts of waste from landfill.
At the Swindon site, Vicky outlined how donations are handled.
“We take in donated furniture for anything from a washing machine to a sofa to a bed to a bedside table, small electrical, children’s items, all that kind of thing. It comes in, we sort it, and then some of it we sell, some of it we give away through our provision fund, the KFR fund,” she said.
Access to the provision fund is through referral partners.
“It’s there to help anybody really in Wiltshire, come through one of our referral partners, such as Citizens Advice or another charity in the area, and it aims, we kind of believe that no one should be without a bed to sleep in, a sofa to sit on, or a cooker to cook with.”
The charity is also appealing for more support from the public.
“You can help with donating to us, so either pop it on down to where we are in Kembrey Park, or we do a free collection service, or you can come down and volunteer your time as well,” she said.
“We have a great bunch of staff and volunteers here, and we’re always looking for more people to help us sort through donations. If you’re into DIY, building furniture, anything like that.”
One current focus is repairing large appliances.
“We’re really trying to push our white goods refurbishment projects. So our team over at Devizes have engineers. So if you’ve got an old kind of cooker, washing machine or tumble dryer that may be not working, we can take that off your hands, and we’ll try and refurbish it and give it another life.”
Despite a strong social media following, Vicky said there is still more to do to raise awareness.
“Swindon is a very big place. We’ve only hit our Facebook followers is like nearly 20,000, but there’s 220,000 people in Swindon. So if you could just share the word about us, share a story about what you’ve got from us, share your Upcycle kind of stories as well. Just really kind of spread the name. That’s really what we need help with.”
The Mayor’s visit highlighted the role charities such as KFR play in supporting low-income households, while also helping to reduce unnecessary waste across Wiltshire.
