Hutchesons of Portsoy donates furniture to local charity, Stella’s Voice

Each container holds thousands of pounds worth of new and boxed bathroom and kitchenware. The proceeds secured will be given to vulnerable families in Moldova who have been fleeing from the war-torn Ukraine.

A report by The Council of Europe dated 17 June 2022, reports that Moldova has taken just under 500,000 refugees from Ukraine. Moldova, which has the largest concentration of refugees per capita, has also appealed for international help in dealing with the numbers arriving.

Stella’s Voice works in Moldova to protect vulnerable children and young people from human traffickers. At its various locations in the UK, Stella’s Voice runs several reuse and recycling projects to help fund the work of the charity, whilst working towards a better environment by diverting hundreds of tons from landfill each year. Stella’s Voice also works with several supermarkets by collecting items that have been damaged or are near their use by date. These items are then donated locally helping some of those in most need in the local community.

European Director for Stella’s Voice, Mark Morgan said: “We are most grateful to Hutchesons of Portsoy for this great donation which has come at a time when people are in great need, having fled Ukraine for their lives.”

The idea for this charitable initiative came from Mike Wiseman who recently joined the team at Hutchesons of Portsoy. During one of their regular team meetings, the matter was raised on what should be done with all the boxed furniture. In his new position as Store Person, Mike talked about Stella’s Voice and all the good work they do protecting young people from human trafficking. Mentioning all the old stock in HoP’s warehouse, Mike suggested donating everything to the Peterhead based charity.

Managing Director Neil Hutcheson said: “All the team were immediately on board with Mike’s fantastic idea.

"We immediately reached out to Stella’s Voice to see if they wanted to visit us and have a closer look at all the old (but new!) stock in our warehouse. I think that the staff from Stella’s Voice were pleasantly surprised when they realised that everything was brand new and still in boxes!”

HoP made the decision to move away from installing new kitchens and bathrooms to enable this family run company to focus on the main business activity. With HoP’s annual sales having seen a 100% increase over the past 12 months, the business needed to make much needed space available, to cope with the dramatic increase in stock being delivered on stie.

HoP is the North East of Scotland’s number one supplier and installer of gas, electric and wood burning stoves and fireplaces plus wood burning and electric range cookers. A family run business since 1961, owner and director, Neil Hutcheson has been on the frontline of change since taking over the business from his father back in 2000.

By donating the five containers to Stella’s Voice, HoP will be making a significantly positive contribution to helping those less fortunate.