Charity converts own offices into homeless refuge

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 8 March 2019

UPDATED: 8 March 2019

Homeless charity HOPE Community Services has relocated its office function to unused space above its Worksop shop to convert its former premises into move-on accommodation for the homeless, thanks to a five-figure funding package from NatWest.

HOPE Community Services has renovated the first floor of its Bridge Street shop in a £75,000 project with support from the bank. The team relocated to the site late last year, freeing up the previous office near the bus station on Watson Road for development.

The charity’s old three-story space will be transformed into eight self-contained flats for homeless individuals in the area. HOPE Community Services is working with the Landaid Trust, Clothworkers Federation, Help the Homeless, Beatrice Lang and Trusthouse Foundation, to complete the development in the coming months.

The new flats will offer those experiencing homelessness a refuge from the streets.

Alan Diggles, CEO of HOPE Community Services, said:

“We are always looking to increase the capacity of our accommodation and help more vulnerable people in need of support. The first floor above our clothing store had been left unused for almost 15-years, but we have never had the spare funds available to renovate it. Thanks to the funding from NatWest, we have transformed the space into new offices, allowing us to convert our old office premises into accommodation for those most in need.”

HOPE currently provides the only directly accessible emergency accommodation hostel in Nottinghamshire and, it will be trying to help more homeless people across the county.

The charity was established in 1996 as a local response to help those living on the streets and has grown to a team of more than 50 staff and volunteers helping hundreds of homeless people in the region each year. HOPE generates income from its charity shop in Worksop and an on-line store, each of which sells brand new, discounted clothing sourced from the goodwill of leading High Street retailers.

Luke Allen, relationship manager at NatWest, said:

“HOPE has already helped hundreds of homeless people by providing them with shelter and support to find permanent accommodation. The funding from NatWest will allow an indispensable local charity continue to help even more people find homes.”

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