HOPE House homeless day centre in Church Street is preparing to move to the former home of Phoenix Plant Based Eatery.
Work is currently underway at the new premises in preparation for the move, which is aimed to be ready by the summer.
Hope House is one of several projects run by the Hope Centre, based at St Helens Christian Life Centre in Atherton Street, the charity’s most notable endeavours are St Helens Foodbank, which links in with The Trussell Trust’s UK-wide foodbank network, and Hope House homeless day centre.
Currently based at 103 Church Street, Hope House provides a basic needs and personal care service for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
This free service also offers advice, advocacy and support to those in need, with the ultimate aim of helping service users achieve their personal goals and help them move towards independence
In collaboration with Green Pastures, a charity which purchases properties to house the homeless, the Hope Centre has secured new premises in Corporation Street.
The building was the former home of Phoenix Plant Based Eatery, which has now moved to new premises in Bridge Street.
In preparation for the move, Hope Centre project director, Angela Metcalfe, is calling on volunteers and local businesses to help make the move a success.
“We’ve outgrown Church Street,” Angela said. “It’s no longer meeting our needs or allows us to be able to deliver the service that we want.
“That’s why for a number of years we’ve been looking to find alternative premises.
“The premises in the Phoenix, it’s amazing, but there’s a lot of work that needs doing on it to make it suitable for our services and more importantly for the people we support.
“The journey has been a long one. These premises are ideal, but we’ve got work to do in it.
“There is a lot of development that has got to be done internally to get it fit for purpose.”
Angela said the new centre will have everything currently in Hope House, but with much more space.
The new premises is split over two floors, and will allow the centre to develop its IT offer.
It will also offer a laundry service for patrons to be responsible for washing their own clothes, a small step towards achieving their independence.
Another idea that is being explored for further down the line, is some kind of social enterprise, such as an artisan bakery.
Angela said: “It’s just going to create a really pleasant opportunity for people to work in.
“From a staff point of view it’s going to be different. We needed to bring 103 (Church Street) up into this century.”
If anyone is interested in contributing to the project, contact Angela Metcalfe, project director at the Hope Centre on 01744 26414 or alternatively email angela@hopecentre.org.uk
For more information about The Hope Centre and all of its projects, visit www.hopecentre.org.uk
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