The Moving on Project Portsmouth

Aim

The aim of the project is to help those struggling financially to have access to household furniture free of charge.

Nobody Should Go Without the Necessities for Their Home

The people that we directly help, live mainly within heavily deprived areas. The most deprived area in Hampshire is found within the Charles Dickens ward, Portsmouth. Our referred clients were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and now they’re being disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis. We have seen first hand the struggle that our referred clients go through. Children that don’t have a bed to sleep in, Families without a cooker, fridge, even a sofa.

Our goal in 2023 is to reach more referred clients and beyond. We want to be able to combine our shop and units into one space. Expanding our charity shop, so that we can offer those in our community who haven’t been referred the chance to receive help in other ways – affordable, clean, PAT tested white goods, sofa’s, beds, etc. Choosing from our range of crowdfunding rewards, this enables you to pledge directly to our Project.

Fighting Furniture Poverty since 2017

The Moving on Project Portsmouth (CIO) has been fighting poverty on multiple fronts. Our team help to reintroduce Community Wellness within Portsmouth. We run our storage units with the help of volunteers, who sometimes wouldn’t have been able to engage socially. Community Payback who jump right in at the deep end and help beyond words, Volunteers who just wanted to help to show kindness. No one is paid for their help, from Trustees to volunteers, every second donated to MOPP is free. 

Our mission to fight furniture poverty has become even more urgent in light of the Cost-of-Living crisis, with furniture poverty soaring beyond what anyone could have expected. Here are just a few of the reasons why furniture poverty continues to matter in the UK:

• Research carried out by the charity Turn2Us in 2019 found that 4.8 million families are living without at least one essential household appliance, (a cooker, a fridge/freezer, or a washing machine).
• In 2022 from January-October the Moving on Project Portsmouth received on average 2 referrals per day. In November 22 alone, we received 39 referrals.
• The social housing sector houses some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society, a situation compounded by austerity and the pandemic.

Our Social Impact

Since 2017 we have helped close to 4,000 households, including young carers, low income households and elderly people living in sheltered accommodation.

During the pandemic, the Moving on Project Portsmouth only closed for 2 weeks. We received a telephone call requesting for us to reopen as the service we offer was so desperately needed.

What Will the Money be Used For?

Target: Help MOPP to expand and reach more households!

We aim to raise the funds to help us move to a more sizeable property where we can offer affordable white goods, furniture, clothing and other essentials to more people. Securing this funding will help us to pay the first years rent at a new location. 

Make an Impact in 2023

With your support we will be able to scale up our ability to help in the Cost-of-Living Crisis and bring people together through voluntary positions in Portsmouth.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 12th March 2023