Sarah Moore and Money for Nothing is well worth a watch

Of course, the place where people dump their rubbish is now called a recycling centre and rubbish is now called ‘unwanted items’ – all very politically correct but it does not put off this dinosaur.

Recycling in our house was saving yogurt pots and toilet roll inners so my mum’s class of infants could make snowmen or crackers from them. We did not start eating the sour stuff until she trained as a teacher – and I learned the value of reusing.

The consumer programme has taken the 21st century ethos – reduce, reuse and recycle – to heart and has done it with a bouncy, breeezy brightness brought, largely, by its first and best presenter Sarah Moore.

The Sussex-based designer and entrepreneur also created the series which opens with Sarah – and later other presenters – at a recycling centre, taking unwanted items from visitors – anything from furniture to fishing rods – taking them to an artisan, asking them to reuse them and selling on the new creations.

Any profit is then given back to the original owners.

Jacqui Joseph, JJ Chalmers and Jay Blades, before his rise to fame on the Repair Shop, presented the show. The lovely late EJ Osborne was also one of the designers and presenters.

Regular designers and craftspeople include Norman ‘titan of timber’ Wilkinson, Rupert Blanchard, Forge Creative – Josh Kennard and Oli Milne – Sarah Peterson, bag designer Neil Wragg, lighting expert Duncan McKean, of Albert & Edward, Ray Clarke, Daniel Heath, Mark ‘Horse’ Philips, Bex Simon, the Rag and Bone Man, Guy Trench, Simion Dallas Hawtin-Smith and Bruce ‘ wizard of wood’ Faulseit.

Comedian Arthur Smith does the voice-over which for cheesiness, cliches and jokes rivals anything Dave Lamb can throw at Come Dine With Me.

Money for Nothing is a comfortable, lovely watch giving a glimpse into 21st century living. It sits well in the afternoon BBC schedules with Escape to the Country and Flog It.

It is amazing what people throw away and more strange what Sarah and co chose to save.

You also get all class of people at the tip – from aristocracy to the downsizers, those clearing out a late loved one’s home to those moving into their first home.

Sofas, skateboards, blankets, blinds, chairs, tables, wireless sets, lamp shades, yards of material, wedding dresses, miles of wood fencing, yards of wire and chunks of iron are among the thousands of items snaffled by Sarah, Jay, Jacqui and JJ.

Settees have been transformed into chaise longue, deckchairs and leather jackets into bags cracked chairs made into loungers that would grace a cruise liner, blankets into soft furnishings, copper pipes into chandeliers and floorboards into skateboards.

Often the make-overs are major and the price tags are breath-taking – up to £1,000s and the profits small. That is not money for nothing – it’s cash made after a lot of hard work.

Occasionally the craftspeople will use a sliver of what has been delivered and it is more a case of recreating than upcycling.

That said, the imagination, craftsman(woman)ship and creativity on show are awesome. The finished products are modern or vintage must-haves.

Sarah is the best at keeping the promise of the title. She often spends nothing on her creations – using instead elbow crease, her painting and crafting skills and off-cuts of materials she has stored in her barn/workshop in the Sussex countryside. Dog Bramble is never far from her side – completing the idyll.

She has been known to take a mixed-lot box of ceramics and after a rummage through has found Clarice Cliff or Troika.

Each episode ends with the presenter of the day handing over profit – seldom is their failure. More often sums handed over ranged from £10 to £300 or £400.

The delight and surprise on the faces of the original owners are seldom faked. They are gobsmacked at the profit but moreover at the transformation of their trash.

Who could blame them? Who would have thought fishing rods could become a chair, a stained glass window into a dining table or a lathe into a garden bench?

Repeats of Money for Nothing can be seen on the BBC, BBC iPlayer and Freeview channels.