John Sherbourne 
On Wednesday evening, via Zoom, Stephen Wylde and Gareth Davies became the latest in a long line of MBC members who over more than 30 years have been elected to the board of the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store.
The Store, which began life here at Moortown way back in 1986 is now made up of a team of 13 (6 of whom are regular volunteers) and is based in a 10,000sq ft warehouse on an industrial estate in Seacroft; back then under the “chairmanship” of Hilary Willmer* it’s small team of volunteers relied on garages and garden sheds for storage and for transport their cars and a horsebox.
However, despite some enormous changes one constant has been the team’s desire to help people in need. Indeed, here is an extract from the charity’s Statement of Objects which describes its mission… “as a practical demonstration of Christian commitment to socially and economically disadvantaged people our mission is to relieve poverty by distributing donated furniture.” A commitment as alive today as it was almost three and a half decades ago.
For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the Store, or with it’s workload here are a few stats. In the last financial year (2019/20) the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store completed 964 deliveries, an increase of 27 on the previous year. This equates to 6,512 separate items of furniture. And it made 1,532 collections made up of 7,985 separate items. Apart from a small delivery charge each and every one of these items was supplied at no cost to themselves to an individual or a family who had been referred to the charity by one of 60 or so statutory or voluntary support agencies. Of course besides providing this very practical support each and every item of furniture reused reduces the chances of it being incinerated, dumped in landfill or worse still fly tipped.
In more recent times one of the Store’s biggest adventures came about when in response to a request to supply new furniture to a wave of incoming refugees it set up a retail arm selling furniture, furnishings and white goods. That project, L&MFS Trading Ltd, is still going and now works alongside a number of local authority departments as well as several social housing schemes supplying anything from a tea spoon to a fridge freezer; any profit the trading company makes is of course immediately covenanted across to the charity.
Right from the start the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store and LMFS Trading have had just one aim, and that’s been addressing the needs of people in Leeds. In 2020, and particularly following a three month Covid-19 closure it’s only through the commitment and drive of its trustees, directors, management, staff and volunteers that this aim continues to be fulfilled .
That said without you playing your part and donating your unwanted furniture (beds, sofas, tables, chairs, wardrobes, cabinets etc. etc.) none of this would be possible.
At this moment in time besides Gareth and Stephen, Graham Brownlee, Karen Handley, John Sherbourne, Terry Kelly (Middleton Baptist Church) and Gillean Howitt (a former social worker/service user) sit on the charity and trading company boards whilst another MBC member John Gamson is the Store’s Manager.
To read more about the charity and to find out how you can support L&MFS by making a one off cash donation visit www.leedsandmoortown.org.uk or call Chair of Trustees John Sherbourne 0n 07913505865.
Thank you.
*When we told Hilary Willmer about the arrival of two new, home grown trustees we also invited her to write a couple of sentences recounting the early days. Here’s what she sent us.
The Furniture store was certainly founded by Moortown Baptist Church in 1986; it arose from my frustration when in Chapeltown CAB I encountered families with no beds for their children or chairs to sit on – while members of MBC asked if I could find a home for good quality furniture that they no longer needed. The first committee included Christine Robson as secretary, myself as chair, Julie Harris as treasurer for one year as well as Joan Thompson and John Hornby; all members of MBC. And since then involvement in many ways has continued by direct involvement of many members and much needed financial support from the church as well as the early minibus.
Every Monday Jane Coates writes Monday thoughts and prayers for the Pastoral Care Team. This is something she has done every week since May 3rd. Here Jane shares the message she wrote and sent out on 28th September.
Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous and strong and do everything with love. 1 Corinthians 16 v 13-14
It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us and He has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything He has promised us. 2 Corinthians 1 v 21-22
When tragic hits and our circumstances are unstable, challenging, uncertain, scary, isolating and bleak- what can we do? Where do we go for strength, perspective and understanding? What is there to keep us on track and to prevent us folding and crumpling?
When Phil and I experienced a very bleak time in our family we held on to the knowledge that God is faithful, that God is constant and loving and that God is completely trustworthy. We stood firm in the knowledge that He had always been our faithful God through the many years that we had walked with him. This was the foundation stone on which we planted our feet. As He had been with us in the past- He would be with us now and on into the future. We planted our feet and we stood firm.
Covid days may make us feel isolated and anxious. It is hard to meet with family, friends and church friends. We may know of those who may have received a difficult diagnosis, an uncertain time with employment, a financial concern, tensions in a relationship, a troubling family situation or mental wellbeing issues. How do we stand firm during these times and help others to stand firm?
I appreciate the tributes that were recently paid to Chadwick Boseman, the Black Panther Marvel star, who died suddenly, at the age of 43, after his four year battle with cancer. During those 4 years he was able to stand firm. He had never discussed his illness publicly and had continued to work on blockbuster films throughout his treatment and surgeries during that period. He was standing firm without drawing attention to his very real concerns. For that, he is a superhero.
Chadwick had openly spoken about his faith in God during difficult times. On one occasion, he had been selected for a role in a soap opera that involved playing the role of a stereotypical black man. After questioning the producers on the portrayal of the character he was dismissed from the role. He trusted that his disappointment would lead to other opportunities. When he addressed a group of graduating students at Howard University in 2018, he spoke of his faith, quoted Jeremiah 29 v 11, and spoke of God’s purpose being the essential element of who you are. “You are on this planet, at this particular time in history and your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfil. Whatever you choose for your career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
After his death, the NAACP one of the leading civil rights groups in the US wrote, “ for showing us how to conquer adversity with grace, for showing us how to ‘say it loud’, for showing us how to walk as a king without losing the common touch, for showing us just how powerful we are. Thank you.”
The encouragement in these difficult days is to stand firm but not in our own strength but in God’s strength. To fix your feet. Instead of giving us strength to face whatever situation we need to face, He becomes our strength. It is His strength. Strength made perfect in weakness.
The images below are scans of Chris and Bela’s latest newsletter. To read and/or download their original please click HERE
Way back in June Karen Ross asked for your help with a banner she was making. That request was for those among us that were blessed with nimble fingers to make red hearts. Today that banner is finished and is hanging in church.
So, over to Karen. “As you can see there were many different types of red hearts sent in by the ten people who answered my plea. Some were on card, coloured or woven and some were made of velvet, tartan, cord or shiny fabric. A few had sequins sewn onto them and one or two were even trimmed with lace. They are all so beautifully made, this really is a great example of how when so many people come together the finished work ends up looking so lovely. My thanks to all who helped.”
Eleven days after our drive through harvest and ten after the story was submitted it’s great to see that on Thursday the Yorkshire Evening Post eventually found space to use our little filler.
With Shelley’s brain working overtime, and already a few irons in the fire, little do the EP know what we’re going to hit them with at Christmas!
Sunday’s drive through Carpark Harvest was a brilliant event! With well over 100 people either walking or driving to MBC and donating literally scores and scores of products it was a terrific example of what can be achieved when you think out of the box.
Faced with the prospect of Harvest 2020 going unrecognised, whilst at the same time a local foodbank was reporting that since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic demand for their services was up by more than 30% Shelley Dring (above) our Children’s and Families Worker suggested this initiative way of keeping our harvest tradition afloat.
With a three foot long risk assessment pinned to the front door, and a NHS Track & Trace barcode scanner stuck along alongside it all was set at 1pm when the first of our visitors arrived. By 4, when all was safely gathered in stage 2 of the process began – organising the delivery of our harvest to the Leeds North and West Foodbank
Huge thanks to Shelley and to her small team of helpers. Together, and in just 5 days, they not only organised something that saw an enormous amount of food, toiletries, cleaning products etc being donated to a terrific community project, they also gave many of us our first opportunity in months of seeing and from a safe distance having mask to mask chats with friends.
One of the ladies who under more normal circumstances attends our Beacon café is also someone I’ve had the pleasure of keeping in touch with right through lockdown.
She is a wonderful, generous and very creative lady and I have built up a strong connection with her. Using the pseudonym Sylvie Jacques this lady writes children’s stories that I type up for her and she is also very artistic. I type and she illustrates.
This week she showed me one of her scrap books and I spotted this poem, the subject of which will I’m sure be familiar to many if not all of us. Indeed in my case the mysteries and delights of the old button box live on as I still have my grandma’s.
The illustrations that sit alongside the poem are also Sylvie’s work; what a talented lady she is and I am so grateful to her for giving permission for us to share them.
The Old Button Box
By Sylvie Jacques
As a treat, Mother used to say,
“I’m sure you’ll find it in the old button box.!”
Whatever was lost, was found.
Whatever we didn’t have……
We found it in the old button box.
Treasures to be found in the old button box.
Sequins, ribbon, thread
Buttons galore…… small ones, large ones….
Round buttons, square buttons,
Coloured buttons, Mother of Pearl buttons,
Glass buttons, wooden buttons.
Bits of lace, bobbins and needles,
Even a pair of angel wings.
Sometimes we’d count the colours.
Sometimes we’d use the buttons as money and buy whatever we liked.
Oh, what a delight… Mother’s old button box.
Now I’m older, I remember why
We loved the box so much.
Mother could remember where every button came from…
every clothes that owned them and every child that wore them and all the stories that went with them.
And that was the treasure in Mother’s old button box.
