Trust helps to make house a home

by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

A TEAM of dedicated Helensburgh volunteers are helping to make a house a home for hundreds of people.
Since it was established in 1994, the Beacon Trust has provided furniture for countless properties from Dumbarton and the Vale to Rosneath Peninsula.
The charity, based in Kirkmichael, was the initiative of town churches who wanted to help people in need.
It’s moving spirit was navy man Trevor McGrath who believed that, while it was good to pray for your neighbour when he was in trouble, it was even better if you gave him a helping hand.

Now, 17 years on, that ethos remains with the Beacon Trust responding to at least two appeals a month for the furniture and household goods they need to set up home.
And in the current economic climate, it’s services are needed more than ever.
The trust’s team of six volunteers – all unpaid – operate from a shop in Stuckleckie Road, delivering much needed goods free to people referred by a range of agencies including Argyll and Bute Council’s social work and housing departments, the Argyll Community Housing Association, Women’s Aid, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association and by word of mouth.
They deal with requests for help, schedule pick-ups and deliveries and carry out regular maintenance of the charity’s van.
Ernie Harkness, secretary, said: “There is nowhere else for people to go. When people get a flat from the council or a private landlord they get four walls and a roof. They have no furniture so if we have it we will supply it.”
The trust is entirely self-funded. It raises money for maintenance of its premises and the running of the van by selling surplus donated items at reasonable prices. Argyll and Bute Council also provides rates relief.
Ernie, who drives the van and delivers furniture, appealed for more volunteers to sign up and help maintain the vital service.
With only six people on board, shop opening hours have had to be cut back to ensure the service runs as effectively as possible.
He said: “We need more volunteers to lift furniture and to drive the van. You need to be reasonably fit. Old furniture is not made to go through modern doorways. We’ve had to take it in through the window occasionally!”
The trust is also always seeking good quality unwanted furniture which could help someone set up home. It takes white goods, beds, furniture and furnishings but not clothes or books. Beds are in particular demand.
And Ernie stressed it has to be in good condition. “If I wouldn’t have it in my house then I wouldn’t pass it on,” he said. “The dignity of the client is important. We wouldn’t give them anything which might make them think they aren’t worth better.”
Ernie said the greatest reward is seeing the look on someone’s face when they receive their furniture.
“Some days when you deliver you come out feeling like you’re three feet off the ground,” he said. “Other days you ask yourself why you bother, but you can’t let that get you down.”
The trust’s motto, “We don’t work miracles but we work for someone who does”, reflects its firm Christian ethos – though at least half of the volunteers don’t have a church connection.
But Ernie said the Christian values of identifying and responding to need remain at its heart.
“Our objective has always been to provide basic household items for people who have no means to purchase them,” he said.
The Beacon Trust shop is open Wednesdays to Fridays from 10.30am to 3pm. Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteering or who would like to donate furniture should call 01436 674077 during these hours.