KFR closed the warehouse doors and offices at the start of the pandemic lockdown on March 23 2020.
On April 8 2020 at the start of the national lockdown a government initiative was unveiled to provide support for smaller charities and communities severely affected by Covid 19. KFR applied to the National Lottery Community Fund responsible for distributing and administering funding on behalf of HM Government for an appropriate grant.
This fund NLCF, sponsored by HM Government generously awarded a grant to KFR of £9364. The donation cited for ’our amazing work in the community’ and will ensure this vital work and lifeline has been able to continue.
We reopened the charity cautiously and with care on June 1. The staff and volunteers worked part time for 2 months while the business gradually built up till finally, we were able to work fulltime from the 1st of August.
Since our tentative opening the need for our service has never been greater. The general public having been at home for a prolonged period of time have had major sort outs of their own items and the donations of goods to KFR has been relentless. We are very grateful for the generosity.
However, all our donations of furniture and white goods must be quarantined for 48 prior to reaching the warehouse floor. This has produced a logistical headache for storage, meaning every day the team has to reconfigure our floor space to cope with ‘fresh out of quarantine goods’! Another result of the quarantine rules is KFR is operating one van in order to avoid overcrowding of goods. Our staff and customers safety being paramount.
The NLCF has assisted hugely in our support for the Wiltshire community and enabled a resilience to continue to survive the enormity of Covid 19.
The KFR team works tirelessly with organisations and public affected by Covid 19. There is great hardship within Wiltshire resulting from the pandemic due to illness, homelessness, domestic violence, severe financial stress. KFR has never been busier, never been so crucial to those who need urgent assistance.
The warehouse is full of interesting and competitively priced goods, visit in person, online or at Facebook.
Thank you from Team KFR.
