A CHARITY shop which sells everything from three-piece sofas to giant cuddly tigers has celebrated its first birthday.

Cotswold Dogs and Cats Home’s (CDCH) Charity Furniture Emporium in Tetbury was opened 12 months ago and has already raised more than £150,000.

The shop in London Road is a bazaar full of good-quality furniture, vintage ornaments and all the other odds and ends needed to stock a home.

CDCH is raising funds to build a new £4 million centre to help re-house animals from across the Cotswolds.

In April, The Countess Bathurst broke the ground for the new building in Cambridge, Dursley, in front of a crowd of volunteers.

The Furniture Emporium relies 100 per cent on donations and is mostly staffed by volunteers led by the store manager Karen Roberts.

She said: “We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s helped over the past year.

“Some people come in and kit out their whole homes with our furniture; we’ve had people spend £1,000.

“Absolutely everybody on the planet comes in here, we once had around 50 motorcyclists park up and come in.”

Lots of weird and wonderful furniture ends up at the site but the strangest thing, Karen says, was a three seat sofa from Africa – carved entirely from wood.

Retail development manager Karen Egan was the driving force behind the store, she said she was “absolutely thrilled” with the support it had received so far.

She added: “We still need all sorts of good quality furniture though so if you are thinking of having a clear out we would definitely encourage you to Recycle to Rescue and get in touch.”

The Emporium has 14 volunteers but is always on the lookout for more. To volunteer or find out more about the store call 01666 502 413.