THE latest entry to The Northern Echo's community environmental competition is an increasingly successful furniture project.

County Durham Furniture Help Scheme, in Sedgefield, helps needy families while stopping items ending up as landfill.

Scheme managers have entered Making a Difference, sponsored by development agency One NorthEast, which showcases volunteers who are improving their area.

The scheme takes donated items and passes them to people who cannot afford new furniture.

It helped more than 4,500 families in the year to March, handling more than 12,000 items of furniture, a significant rise on the year before.

Project manager Chris Palmer said: "We estimate that during that 12-month period, more than 400 metric tonnes of reusable material was diverted from waste landfill sites.

"The dramatic growth in our work demonstrates the need for our services. We are helping families from all sorts of backgrounds to improve their lifestyles and working together for the good of the community."

Making a Difference is open to schemes in County Durham, the Tees Valley, Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland.

A range of schemes have entered over the years, including those reviving rundown streets, breathing new life into communities, encouraging recycling, creating wildlife habitats and tidying wasteland.

The competition is open to volunteer-led groups and individuals. The winner will receive £500. To enter, complete the form in today's Northern Echo.