This is slightly out of the B&B area but I hope you'll bear with me.

At the top of Colney Hatch Lane in Friern Barnet we have a really valuable local asset which should be much better known. The Barnet Furniture Centre (4 Queens Parade Close, N11 3FY – tel 020 8361 6802) is a Reuse and Recycling charity (No 1140541) set up in 2011 under what’s called the Third Party Reuse/Recycling initiative. This means that, in cases where a Waste Authority would have had to pay landfill tax on an item, a part of the tax it would have paid forms a small part of the charity’s income.

Last year BFC recycled just over 100 tons (c £200,000 in sales) of good quality donated furniture and household goods that would otherwise have been thrown into landfill. That’s the contents of around 200 three-bedroom houses. This year the total will approach around 250.

Two-tier prices help those on benefits. In addition, BFC has helped many volunteers who have come under local Help-to-Work schemes back into employment. Out of around 40 since 2011, just over half have ended up working for BFC or gone to other jobs. So it has a valuable dual role in the community.

Stock’s constantly changing - you can see latest arrivals on weekly videos and photos at http://www.facebook.com/barnetfurniturecentre. Take a look for a couple of minutes – if you’re planning to refurnish a room the right piece might just be there waiting for you. BFC can also arrange to collect your unwanted furniture of good standard. Because they are generally very busy they do ask that you supply pictures of unwanted items.

Please see full details at: http://www.barnetfurniturecentre.org/.  Open 9am-5pm except Sunday.