Number Eight Tamworth - Furniture Warehouse

We are growing the volunteer team in the Number Eight Tamworth Furniture Warehouse

We have a broad range of activities that you can give your time and skills to but ahead of applying you may wish to take some time to review the work and activities of the charity at:

Our main website
Our Facebook page
Our online shop
Our ebay store

The Number Eight Furniture Warehouse is staffed solely by volunteers, who kindly give of their time to raise funds that support the aims of the Charity. The atmosphere is fun, light hearted, involves tea, the odd doughnut and a feeling of "making a difference" by giving back to others in a less fortunate place.

What we do ask of our volunteers?

To commit to giving of their time for as many hours per week as they are comfortable putting aside
To turn up when they say they will - but understanding life, holidays and illness does get in the way
To understand that volunteering is unpaid (unless of course they are pre-agreed out of pocket expenses)
To operate with the highest of ethics - and always in the best interests of the Charity
Be free with ideas to improve - and to enjoy working as a team
Have a "can do and muck in" attitude, be flexible where ability and skills allow, to ensure we keep selling and raising funds

What skills do we need from our volunteers?

Consider what you are great at and where your core skills could make a difference - even though you could perhaps turn your hand as required to multiple other tasks as needed.

We want you to come away from a volunteering session feeling your skills are appreciated, including:

Donations - we are fortunate to have kind donations via our website and Facebook pages - but this needs to increase in volume. Social media plays a big part in people electing to donate to Number Eight - and not the other competing (and yes, it's competitive) other good causes in our area. Donations need managing with great customer service, could your skills allow us to be "better" than YMCA, St Giles, British Heart Foundation and others to get the higher quality items donated? Could your skills allow us to approach items being sold on Facebook Marketplace and turn them into donations instead? What other ideas could you bring?
Collections - how do we organise to get that donation to our warehouse? Donors rarely deliver - our competitors all offer free collection. How do we balance the costs of hiring transport versus using our own volunteer's transport? How do we schedule transport efficiently to make any external expediture delivers great value for money?
Inventory - all items have to be traced through our stock control system for audit, Gift Aid and effective stock management. Descriptions need to be accurate, defects detailed and measurements taken. Text needs to be written that effectively entices the customer to purchase, without overselling the quality or condition of the item. Items may need to be prepared, have the Pledge and duster in action and sometimes condemned as something we just can't retail. We don't have the space to store items that won't sell.
Photography - in order that potential customers can purchase online reviewing well lit and positioned photographs without the need to come and visit an expensive retail environment we need to take multiple photographs showing each donated item in it's best light.
Pricing - there is no point trying to sell something for more than the market will stand - keeping on top of reasonable market prices is key to ensure our stock rotates as quickly as possible.
Selling - most items will go onto our web shop and combined with visitor traffic generated from our Facebook page and Facebook Shop should be sufficient to sell most items. If they stay around too long, the Charity will use progressive discounting to ensure they find a new home. We also may consider using eBay if the local Tamworth market may not give the right financial return. Social media is a key channel to exploit and we have further technical changes launching soon that will see our products automatically listed on Facebook Marketplace. What are your skills in Facebook marketing, groups and networking online? Can your skills be used as a "superspreader" to get our brand really buzzing in Facebook feeds and groups?
Delivery - many of our items are too large for a family car and many of our target customers do not have transport. We work with a commercial Delivery Partner (not Charity volunteers) for collections and deliveries. That needs organisation to ensure the right product goes to the right customer.

Does this sound like something you could contribute to?

If so please get in touch via our contact page - and we will send over an application form.

And thank you for considering supporting the work of Number Eight.

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