A CHARITY recycling unwanted wood is going from strength to strength, and has moved to a new premises near Newport city centre.

The Wood Store in Market Arcade sells furniture and keepsakes from rescued wood which would otherwise be thrown away, manager Katherine Puw said.

Most of the wood comes from businesses in the Newport area, and is recycled into useful items by volunteers offering their carpentry skills for free.

Ms Puw, 55, from Maindee, said: “We have had a lot of interest. We moved from inside the market upstairs where we were the only shop left. All the others had been taken over by artists, which is lovely but it wasn’t a basis for selling.

“We moved to the arcade; with the new bus station opening we thought it might be a good move.”

Goods including benches, tables, chairs, pens, goblets, vegetable trays and candle holders are crafted by the volunteers, labouring from a base at the Harlequin Industrial Estate in Crindau.

They moved the shop to the new premises last week

“We sell the good stuff for DIY at very cheap prices,” the charity said on its website. “We make stuff out of some of it; most of the rest gets chipped for use as chipboard or energy recovery. We provide work and training placements for young disadvantaged people and generally try to do our bit to save the planet before it’s too late.”