More than 60 sofas are being taken from a disused warehouse in Congleton to families living in The Gambia with no furniture, after being sold at auction for just £5.
Businesswoman Dawn Gibbins, who owns the premises in Bosley that stores end-of-line Arighi Bianchi stock, put the lot up for auction at a small price in the hope that it would find a better home.
She said that she was “chuffed to bits” when Mark Mayo, a volunteer with the charity Gander for Gambia, met her last Tuesday to load the furniture into a van ahead of its shipment to Africa.
Mr Mayo, of Wrexham, started working with the charity six years ago after a holiday in the country, and now visits four times a year as part of his aid work. It works primarily with women and children living in poverty.
He said: “We do a bit of everything, we go to schools, clinics for women and people’s houses, and we donate all sorts of things like clothes, wheelchairs and furniture. It is quite varied.
“It is fantastic to see people smiling when we are able to help them. It’s very rewarding. These sofas will make a big difference to people who have nothing.”
