Poultry barn turned into charity storage hub

BBC

A farmer has converted an old poultry barn into a storage facility to house items donated to a local charity which was running out of space.

Jacob's Well Appeal in Beverley, East Yorkshire, helps people in need locally and internationally, by selling and shipping donated items.

Rob Byass, 69, who owns the barn and volunteers for the charity, said the donations were "invaluable, especially at the moment when everybody is considerably strained financially. Places like this really help".

The barn is located at High Eske Farm in Tickton and is open to the public every Friday afternoon between 14:00 and 17:00 GMT.

Jacob's Well Appeal was founded in 1982 as an aid organisation, sending medical aid to some of the world's poorest countries.

It works with the council, local food banks and refugee charities, to provide furniture and household items to people struggling financially.

The charity is based at Swinemoor Lane in Beverley, where items are sold to raise money to pay for the logistics of sending aid overseas, while others are used to help local people in need.

Mr Byass said: "The barn was in use for poultry and now we have a temporary break so I offered it to Jacob's Well to sell furniture because they were having to turn away some really nice donated items."

"I enjoy doing it. It's a nice change and I love it," Mr Byass added.

Rev John Beynon, CEO of Jacob's Well Appeal said: "We get a lot of donations. We could probably give clothes to every person in East Yorkshire."

Mr Beynon said the storage facility was becoming full.

"We get a lot of medical supplies donated from hospitals, so there wasn't much room to develop it as a furniture retail place," he said.

"When the farmer kindly offered, we jumped at the opportunity and it's a wonderful big space, ideal for displaying furniture."

Mr Beynon said the charity was really excited about the future.

"It has helped raise money while also saving people money," he said.

"A lot of people like browsing through second hand furniture and often find stuff which is as good as new for a quarter of the price."