Member Article

Lotus Living expands online and beyond to support its mission to help more vulnerable people

Lotus Sanctuary, the community interest company looking to house and rehabilitate vulnerable people, launched its new retail offering in March with a Lotus Living Hub in Bilston. Following its success, the business is now due to expand online, and beyond.

A fully integrated part of Lotus Sanctuary, Lotus Living provides the resources needed to support vulnerable people nationwide in an effort to end homelessness. Working on a donation basis, Lotus Living’s stock is powered by donations of well looked after, pre-loved items from both the public and partner organisations.

So far, the Bilston Hub has received over 243 bags of donations from locals equalling 850kg saved from landfill, setting them off to a flying start.

As a means to continue their good work and generate more sales to support those experiencing homelessness, Lotus Living is launching an online store. The store, which will go live on eBay on 29th April, will stock a range of products, including furniture, collector’s items and any higher end pre-loved clothing or accessories, which shoppers can get delivered straight to their door.

The online store will be replenished with new stock weekly, offering shoppers a variety of products to choose from. All purchases will be dispatched within two working days and will be sent via Royal Mail First Class.

Lotus Living currently have a partnership with interiors store LOFT, who have already made a very generous donation of furniture with an RRP of over £9,500. A number of LOFT’s donated items, including good quality sofas, chairs and tables which would otherwise have been disposed of, will be sold in the online store. The team are also in conversation with several other retailers to partner with in order to grow the variety in the products for sale.

Speaking on the online launch, Head of Retail David Underwood, commented: “We’re really pleased to be launching this new phase of activity for Lotus Living, we’ve had such great feedback from the public so far and this should help our cause even further. Over the coming years, we have plans to launch a number of physical stores across the UK – creating opportunities for us to help even more vulnerable people. We’re very excited and hope to become one of the top charity retail sellers, so watch this space.”

Looking ahead, once the Lotus Living eBay store has become established, the team will also be developing new voluntary job roles for residents, helping them get back onto a positive path.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucie Hayes .