Skipton's very own "house doctor", Sheila McFee from Plum Property Styling has launched a series of half-day home styling workshops in Harrogate with an added "Feel Good Factor".

Not only will the workshops help home owners update their property with confidence, but they also aim to raise awareness for Harrogate based charity Disability Action Yorkshire.

The half-day workshops take place in the training rooms at the charity's headquarters on Hornbeam Park Oval. "It's a brilliant venue" said Sheila "because the charity has a social enterprise on site selling pre-loved furniture. The workshops include an opportunity to visit the furniture warehouse next door. Delegates are shown how with a bit of know-how, rooms can be quickly, easily and inexpensively restyled."

Disability Action Yorkshire's operations manager Ange Brockett explained the thinking behind this innovative fund raising scheme. "We opened our furniture warehouse in Harrogate in November 2011. People can either donate unwanted furniture or we can sell it for them on a commission basis. We also do house clearance without charging. It's a simple local alternative to selling unwanted furniture on e-bay; we collect locally and there's no worry about strangers coming to the door."

The money raised from furniture sales is reinvested back into the charity, whose aim is to enable disabled people to live the lifestyle they chose. The latest venture for the charity is the provision of high quality, accessible holiday accommodation for families who need extra facilities for a disabled adult or child. The first holiday lodge is situated on a woodland park in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds.

Due to open at Easter, only the furnishings and equipment are still needed. Seeking some advice on how to style the holiday lodge, Angie consulted Sheila McFee and the idea of home styling workshops was born.

The aim of the workshops is to show home owners how to develop their own ideas and ways of looking at style and colour either for a single room or the whole house. It looks at how to determine the house style, how to choose colours, furnishings and accessories and gives everyone the chance to create a mood board to take away.

After attending the first workshop in January, Ange came away with lots of ideas for furnishing and styling the holiday lodge. "It was great" said Ange "assisting the Chief Executive, Jackie Snape, to choose furniture and accessories for the lodge I was at a loss as to what would look good in a pine log cabin. Now I've got a really good idea of what will work and we are looking forward to producing the WOW factor when our disabled visitors first enter their holiday home"

The workshops are ideal for anyone wanting to update or sell their property quickly for the best price. Dates for the next two workshops which can be booked online are February 25th and March 24th. For more information contact sheila@plumpropertystyling.co.uk.

Disability Action Yorkshire relies on donations to keep its services running. Donate online via the Disability Action Yorkshire website http://www.disabilityactionyorkshire.org.uk/