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A raffle of unique celebrity items is the highlight of the Big Womble, a campaign to promote the social and environmental impact that reuse can have.

400 reuse charities around the UK help people on low incomes to find affordable furniture, electrical appliances and other household items. By collecting donations and reusing items that would otherwise go to landfill, these organisations help the environment and help their local communities. The Big Womble has been organised by their national body, The Furniture Reuse Network (FRN), to raise awareness of this work.

Organisations across the country will be running local events to highlight the value of donating furniture and other household items as a way of alleviating material poverty. The focus of this is a raffle of items donated by celebrities, and tickets are being sold at charity shops and reuse charities UK wide. By holding a raffle rather than an auction, the FRN hopes that more people will have an opportunity to win.

Paul Smith, Chief Executive of the FRN said:
"We are excited that celebrities have seen the value of what we do and are supporting the reuse sector with donations of prizes. Money raised will go to supporting the work the FRN and its members do to reduce poverty in Britain."

The date of the Big Womble is 20th February 2009 and details of the Big Womble, prizes and locations where raffle tickets can be bought can be found on their website.

Tony Robinson, who donated a butcher's chopping block, said:
"For over ten years I've been a patron of Bristol's SOFA Project because I'm convinced this kind of recycling makes eminently good sense. It prevents expensive household items from going to waste, and creates a valuable source of affordable furniture and white goods. The days of the 'throwaway society' would appear to be at an end. As the credit crunch begins to bite, I believe that FRN's many initiatives will become more and more important to our society."

Autralian tennis star, Pat Cash, donated a sofa:
"I needed a new sofa so I gave mine to my local furniture reuse organisation, Furnish, to use in the raffle. It doesn't make sense to throw furniture away if there are people who need it and who can't afford it themselves. I hope the Big Womble will inspire more people to donate to their local charity. I like that it's also good for the environment!"

Barbara Windsor donated a footstool to FRN, saying:
"I hope it goes to somebody deserving and who needs it, and that they get as much pleasure from it as I did. I had many a lovely evening putting my feet up on the stool and I hope the next person does too."

The FRN is the national body which supports, assists and develops charitable re-use organisations across the UK . It does this to reduce poverty by helping households in need access furniture, white goods, IT and other household items at affordable prices. In addition, it supports re-use organisations in providing training and work placement opportunities for people who are socially excluded.

Approximately 400 re-use organisations work with social and environmental aims across the UK . These vary in size from small local charities to large social enterprises. Some are attached to housing associations, development trusts and councils for voluntary service. The benefits of our members work extends far beyond that which can easily be quantified, for example, rebuilding someone's confidence or turning the shell of a property into a home. However, the following statistics, based upon our membership form returns, provide just an idea of the impact of our members work.