Shades of Black

Published 23rd Mar 2010 - The Rockwell Site

Shades of Black

A fire set in the early hours of this morning has destroyed the main building used by the Newlands Furniture Service, a vital community resource which provides vital household appliances and furnishings at low cost to local people.

But organisers of the charity have vowed to carry on helping those in need despite vandals setting light to one of two portable cabins, the base of the Newlands Furniture Service in Thorpe Edge, causing the roof to cave in and destroying half the organisation’s stock.

Firefighters have called in police after they tackled the blaze in Rockwell Lane, in a fenced off compound behind Rockwell Community Centre.

The fire crew had to cut through the locked gate before they could tackle the inferno. There was nothing worth recovering from the black, mangled wreckage when the service’s manager, van driver and clutch of volunteers examined the charred remains of their building.

Clothing, bedding, electrical appliances, books, videos, DVDs, vinyl records, glassware, crockery and cutlery were all shattered and burned among the debris.

All the items had been donated by the community and would have been sold on at discount prices to those in need in the local area.

The furniture service has been operating for more than 20 years. It is supported by the Newlands Community Association, a charity with sites across North Bradford. It has provided the site free of charge to the furniture service for a number of years.

Chris Jefferson, who has been a volunteer with the service for six months, had to turn customers away yesterday. The showroom will be shut for the rest of the week. “This service is a vital part of the community,” he said. “People who come in are on a low income and it helps them furnish their houses with belongings they wouldn’t normally be able to afford. It’s a major disruption because it’s reduced our size by half. We’re going to struggle for room. Our customers like to come in and browse. The building is a write-off. We’re going to have to start from scratch. I can’t comprehend why someone would want to set it on fire. It beggars belief why someone would do it to a community-run charity that helps everyone out. It was full. There was a table and chairs in there that were antiques.
“We will definitely carry on but this is a big setback. It’s a long drawn out process to get a new building in.”

Brenda Rhodes, furniture service manager, said: “This is a real setback for the service and will cause a lot of disruption. However, we will re-build the project and emerge stronger from this incident. The store on Rockwell Lane will re-open next Monday for business as usual.”

The organisation runs a collection service for people wishing to donate items and a house clearance service, and this will continue to operate during the clean-up operation.

It also has a smaller showroom in Greengates and a community shop, Bargain Box, which sells new household goods at York House, in Thorpe Edge.

Anyone who wishes to help replenish the service’s stock by donating furniture can contact the organisation on (01274) 774977.

The Newlands Community Association are working as quickly as possible to get the Furniture Service a new facility to operate from.