The aim of the social economy department within East Belfast Mission is to sell goods, such as good-quality nearly new clothes and furniture to the community and reinvest profits back into the community by using them to fund many of the mission’s programmes. Our charity shops also enable us to provide employment, student placements and volunteering opportunities.

In October 2005 we opened a very unique furniture store. Located in a former cash & carry warehouse on the Newtownards Road in Belfast, it is believed to be the biggest charity shop in Northern Ireland. Alongside this we have a clothes shop, also based on the Newtownards Road, and one on North Street.

Financial assistance from the Community Waste Innovation Fund has enabled us to further develop our charity shops under the ‘Recycle and Resale of Furniture and Electrical Goods’ project.

As part of this initiative we will receive funding to develop three new furniture stores over the next three years. These stores will also be branded wtih the re:store logo and will incorporate the slogan reduce, reuse, recycle. The first of these new charity shops opened in Antrim earlier this year.