THERE can barely be a sofa in Britain that doesn’t have the odd penny stuck down it – but one woman was stunned when she found almost GBP1,500 stuffed down he back of one.
Karen Wilson, manager of a charity furniture store in Rugby, Warks, recently took delivery of the two seater couch and discovered the small fortune in an envelope.
The cash dropped out of the back of the green sofa while it was being moved after being donated to the store earlier this week.
And when Karen counted the amount, she was astonished to find a total of GBP1,305 in notes.
The original owners of the cash were traced thanks to a Gift Aid form they had filled in and were delighted to be reunited with their money this week.
“Usually we just find a few pence lodged at the back of sofas, but in this case an envelope dropped out stuffed full of cash, said Karen.
“I couldn’t believe it, I just started laughing
“We’d had the sofa a couple of weeks and it was around the back of the shop when it happened, while we were deciding whether to display it on the shop floor.
“My colleagues were as surprised as I was when I opened the envelope which was
full of bank notes.
“We weren’t tempted to keep it though. I had to let the family know.”
The family who owned the couch, who wished to remain anonymous, donated GBP100 to the British Heart Foundation as a goodwill gesture when the daughter and grand-daughter of the original owner came in to collect the money.
Karen, who has been working for the charity for two months, explained: “The sofa originally belonged to an old lady who passed away. So there is no way they would have known the money was there.
“I rang them and said ‘do you think you’ve lost something?’ and they replied ‘No I don’t think so’
“When I told them what had happened, they were over the moon. They were absolutely stunned.
“When they came in the grand-daughter was in tears – she just couldn’t believe it. The daughter said her mother used to hide bits and pieces around the house. But never anything like this.
“They were really grateful and shocked and really moved by it all.”
The sofa is now on sale at the store – priced GBP150.
