Spacious Place

• 2nd July 2020
• Ellie Weston
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Spacious Place is a unique social enterprise, working to support the diverse needs of the local community through a variety of social initiatives. Established initially in Burnley town centre, the team founded a food bank to provide for the local residents in need.

After speaking to those referred to the foodbank, Directors Neil and Mark understood that the service users were experiencing complex financial issues, including debt from rent-to-own furniture stores. In response the team decided to set up social enterprise to provide for a multitude of household needs, expanding their work to offer good quality furniture and electricals in addition to their food bank.

The social enterprise raises funds through their 10,000 square foot household store in Burnley, and has partnered with the local Pennine Community Credit Union to provide solutions for the less advantaged, to ensure all members of the community can afford good quality furniture and household goods. The social enterprise now has a second site in Wigan, and hopes to roll out the model across the North West.

In the second half of 2019, The Davies Foundation provided grant funding to Spacious Place to support the essential work it carries out in their communities. Specifically, this funding was used to source essentials for the foodbank during the winter months.

“The reality was that in December 2019 we fed 183 people, 113 of which were children. We were able to achieve this by making 160 deliveries. We get very little consistent help to manage the food bank, so donations like the one that The Davies Foundation made are essential to help us to maintain the large numbers of the local community of Burnley & Padiham that we help each year.”

Director, Spacious Place