Church to house homeless service in Harrogate

A church in Harrogate will be used to provide a safe space for homeless people.

The Wesley Centre will host some of Harrogate Homeless Project's Springboard services - which provides food, showers, a laundry service and support for homeless people.

It's after the centre received £37,500 from the National Lottery’s Coronavirus Community Support Fund - in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The funding will allow new toilets to be installed in the Chapel so that all the Centre’s lower ground floor activities can move upstairs. The Lower Hall kitchen is also being refurbished in preparation for the provision of meals to people who are homeless or vulnerable in Harrogate.

Pippa French, Manager, Wesley Centre said: “Covid 19 meant the closure of our building and many of our usual groups haven’t yet returned. Meanwhile, the Harrogate Homeless Project next door were unable to maintain their services at a safe distance because they didn’t have the space, so it made sense to provide them with it.

“Wesley Chapel was responsible for the founding of the Project nearly 30 years ago, so it’s fantastic that it can step in once again when there is a need. Thanks to the Lottery funding, we are going to be able to create two separate spaces so that we can continue to be a community hub, a performance space and a place of worship in the centre of town. Wesley Centre activities will continue in the Chapel space which will be available for hire in early 2021.”

Liz Hancock, CEO, Harrogate Homeless Project said: “Our day centre premises at Springboard had become difficult to run - the numbers attending were growing and the space was not sufficient to provide the care and activities we wanted to. Now Covid-19 restrictions have made things even more problematic. The Lower Hall at Wesley Centre will be ideal for us and matches and surpasses everything we were looking for. We are busy planning and implementing our move for early next year.”

• harrogate
• homeless
• church