Welcome to Vintage Vault: Gateshead’s new vintage shop that gives furniture a second life.

We’re excited to announce the opening of Vintage Vault, the new vintage shop at Foundations, Gateshead’s community furniture charity.

Vintage Vault is more than a place to find beautiful pre-loved treasures. Every single penny from every sale goes straight back into Foundations to help local households rebuild comfortable homes during times of hardship.

When you buy from Vintage Vault, you’re directly supporting a local household in hardship.

Why Vintage Vault matters

A sofa, a bed, a dining table. These are the building blocks of a home. But for far too many people in the UK, essential furniture is out of reach. Research from End Furniture Poverty shows that millions of people lack access to essential furniture and furnishings. It's an issue that causes harm to people’s physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing. Living without essential items can lead to isolation, poor health, unmanageable debt and even make it harder to sustain a tenancy.

Vintage Vault exists to do two things at once:

1. Offer affordable vintage and pre-loved pieces to the public

2. Fund Foundations’ vital work supporting households affected by furniture poverty. Because 100% of sales at Vintage Vault go to Foundations, every purchase helps make a house feel like a home.

   
   

Free Collection: Give Furniture a New Home

If you’re having a clear-out, redecorating, or simply want to pass on something you no longer need, we’ll collect it for free from in and around Tyne and Wear. Foundations runs a free collection service every weekday, so usable furniture, white goods and small electricals can be put back into circulation and used by local families in need instead of ending up in landfill.

Donating items is an easy, immediate way to help vulnerable households create, maintain and rebuild a comfortable home life during hardship and recovery.

Want to donate? Call our charity on 0191 4778337 or use the form below to get in touch.

The Local Need: How Vintage Vault Helps Gateshead

Foundations has a long history in Gateshead supporting people who need low-cost furniture and household items. The project already helps around 700 local households every year, providing affordable second-hand furniture, new beds and mattresses where needed, and flexible support for people in difficult circumstances.

By turning donated items into sales at Vintage Vault (and putting 100% of those sales back into the charity) we’re creating a sustainable cycle to ensure the Foundations charity is around for as long as possible for people who need us most.

This matters because furniture poverty isn’t simply about lacking things, it’s linked to deeper problems such as low income, insecure work and sharply rising living costs.

Local charities and schemes like Foundations help households to quickly alleviate furniture poverty, so they can rebuild other areas of their lives much faster without the emotional and financial anxieties that occur when trying to afford expensive household items. Vintage Vault helps strengthen that safety net, meaning Foundations is here for people to remove that anxiety.

What you’ll find at Vintage Vault

Expect an ever-changing selection of retro and vintage furniture pieces, decorative items and carefully checked electricals and small appliances (always PAT-tested)

Every item is priced to reflect its value as a vintage find and its role in supporting the charity’s work and, again, every sale funds Foundations’ services.

How you can help right now

• Shop — Visit Vintage Vault and pick up a unique piece. Your purchase helps someone else. You can visit us in person, or shop on line on Facebook Marketplace

• Donate — If you have usable furniture or white goods, book our free collection by calling 0191 4778337 or using the form below

• Spread the word — Share this post with friends and neighbours

• Volunteer — We always need helping hands for collections and deliveries on our van, and helping in our showrooms and warehouses. Through our Foundations4Work programme, we can offer volunteers some personalised assistance with the job seeking process too.

Visit us

You can browse Vintage Vault at any time during Foundations’ opening hours. (Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm).

If you have any questions about how a community furniture charity like Foundations works, give us a call on 0191 477 8337 or use the contact form below and we'll get back to you ASAP.