Local charity set to expand their vintage empire into Horsham

Kent-based charity, RefugEase, are expanding into Sussex, and opening their first Vintage Megastore in the town.

The ‘Vintage Emporium Megastore’ will occupy the site next door to Currys, previously filled by Office Outlet at Tanbridge Retail Park.

This store will be the largest of four Vintage Emporiums run by the charity, stocking mainly furniture and offering free collections in the area.

The proceeds will be used to fund RefugEase’s work to support those fleeing conflict.

The charity, who have been helping refugees in the U.K. and abroad for over 6 years, was born in 2015, when founder, Valentina, saw a photo of Alan Kurdi – a three year old Syrian boy who tragically drowned in the Mediterranean sea as his family were trying to reach Europe.

Valentina, set up a simple Facebook event in her hometown of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in an urgent attempt to gather aid to be sent to Europe. The event went viral, attracting thousands of willing individuals to donate items on the ‘needs’ list. Since then, they’ve dedicated themselves to helping our war-torn brothers and sisters across the globe.

Valentina said of the new Horsham shop: “We’re always on the lookout for new locations to expand our vintage charity shop offering, and, when we saw the unit come up in Horsham, we were really excited. We wanted a larger space to enable us to showcase our vintage furniture and Horsham is a town we’ve had our eye on for a while.”

The Vintage Emporium Megastore is opening this Saturday and will be open every day 10am - 6pm thereafter (and ’til 4pm on Sundays).

In April last year, major supermarket Aldi announced plans for a new store on the Tandridge Retail Park site, and is still seeking public comments on the plans.

READ ABOUT THE ALDI PROPSALS HERE

Valentina added: “We’ll also be offering a free furniture collection service for people who have items to donate - something we hope the people of Horsham will be keen to take advantage of! If you live within a 10 mile radius of Horsham, please book your furniture collection online here: refugease.org/furniture-collections.

“Feel free to pop in and visit us this weekend! We’re in the old Office Outlet unit at Tandridge Retail Park, next door to Currys and we’d be happy to explain more about our projects or point out some of our favourite items. We’re looking forward to getting to know Horsham’s lovely residents better.”

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