Burslem based fire door specialists Washington and Riley have sprung into action to support Stoke-on-Trent’s Furniture Mine after thieves caused £2,000 damage during a break in.

Thieves sawed their way through a fire door after breaking into the charity store in Cannon Place, Hanley. Run by Emmaus North Staffs, the Furniture Mine helps families in need of support to obtain second hand furniture, provides house clearances and operates a shop.

Jason Thompson, a Director at fire door specialists Washington and Riley contacted Emmaus North Staffs Manager John Webbe after reading news about the break in on the Sentinel’s Stoke-on-Trent Live website.

Within hours, the Burslem firm had measured up for and ordered two new fire doors, which will be fitted as soon as they arrive.

“One door had been totally sawn in two, so was a complete write off, but we discovered a second door wasn’t fit for purpose,” explained Jason. “We are well aware of the good work that the Furniture Mine does to support families who have very little. We didn’t want to see money that could go to help support our city’s most vulnerable residents being spent on repairing vandalised property.”

The Furniture Mine is North Staffordshire’s largest furniture recycling service. Any member of the public can buy items from the Furniture Mine and families in need can furnish their homes for free or at a heavily subsidised rate. Emmaus also provides jobs for homeless people.

John Webbe said: “It was awful to see the damage done during the break in and any money spent on putting the damage right means we have less to help the local community, therefore, we are very grateful to Washington and Riley for their incredible support. It is fantastic that they agreed to replace the damaged door, but they also spotted that our office door was insecure and would not withstand a fire and amazingly ordered a second new door with no prompting at all from us.”

To support the Furniture Mine, please see https://www.emmaus.org.uk/northstaffs.

ENDS
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