Queuing for coffee at Decorex, I got chatting to an interior designer who told me about the charity Furnishing Futures, they create healing homes for women and children who have escaped domestic abuse

Abuse victims are often re-housed in empty flats and, already vulnerable, they are unable to afford basic items such as beds, sofas and curtains. Furnishing Futures uses trauma-informed design to create spaces that nurture and uplift using furniture and homewares donated by the interiors industry.

The charity was founded by social worker and interior designer Emily Wheeler who aims to combine her skills to design, fully furnish and decorate family homes using returns, seconds, ex-showroom pieces and other stock that might otherwise end in landfill.

Thank you Marta Rossato for telling me about Furnishing Futures and here’s the link in case you want to learn more