THOUSANDS of pieces of furniture headed to the landfill were saved by a homelessness charity in Oxford.

Instead of going to the tip more than 600 tonnes of items – the weight equivalent of approximately 49 double decker buses – were sold off to help the homeless community.

These second-hand items were sold in Emmaus Oxford's charity store on Barns Road in Cowley.

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Now the organisation, which provides formerly homeless people with accommodation and work, is celebrating the achievement during Recycle Week that will run until Sunday.

The theme for this year’s event, which is now in its 17th year, is 'Together – We Recycle'.

The combined efforts of the Emmaus Oxford team, together with donors, shoppers and supporters, is helping to ensure that thousands of items every week are given a longer life.

All donated items that are sold generates the income the charity needs to provide a home, work, daily support and funded training for people who have experienced homelessness and social exclusion.

This allows the organisation to help 28 formerly homeless people in the city.

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Explaining how people can help the charity and 'do their bit' Eddie Blaze, chief executive at Emmaus Oxford, commented: "By us all working together, we are reducing waste to landfill, doing our bit for the environment and helping to sustain the support offered to people who have experienced homelessness.

"This Recycle Week, we are asking people to look around their house, shed, loft and garage – if they have any quality furniture they don’t need, they can book a free collection with us.

"We could not do our work without the public and we hope that our local community continues to pull together and help us make a difference to the environment and the lives of the people we support."

Recycle Now is the national recycling campaign for England, supported and funded by the Government.

This year, the theme is set to thank the nation for continuing to recycle despite all the challenges that the Covid-19 crisis has presented.

To find out more about the work that Emmaus Oxford does and how to book a collection of your old furniture visit www.emmaus.org.uk/oxford