A CHARITY supporting homeless people is set to lose its own home – putting one of its most in-demand services under threat.
Helping Hands works with vulnerable people across the district by providing a soup kitchen and support including its ‘House2Home’ service, providing household items to help them get back on their feet.
But they have been dealt a devastating blow after discovering the building at Stoneleigh Park where they keep their donations for ‘House2Home’ is set to be demolished to make way for new businesses. If they cannot source another premises soon they will be forced to cancel one of their most important services.
Charity manager Lianne Kirkman told the Observer: “We’ve been told by Stoneleigh Park that they no longer have a place for us to keep our furniture storage. They told us a while ago we would lose our current building but assured us they had another for us to move into. Sadly they’ve told us this other building has now been given permission to be knocked down.
“This means we don’t have anywhere to go to. We were hoping to use the other building not only to store our donations of household goods and furniture – which go to recently housed individuals and families – but we were planning to do upcycling and repairs to any broken white goods, washing machines and furniture in order to give people we support a skill to get back to work.”
Helping Hands started its House2Home project in 2013 from a garage before moving to the now-demolished referee hut at the Racing Club Warwick Football Club ground.
But currently they fill the two-storey building in Stoneleigh with donations from local supporters.
They are appealing for help to find a new home before they have to leave the premises, which Lianne believes will happen ‘imminently’.
She said: “We are desperately in need of a building to continue our work and would have to stop our House2Home project. We have had more than 100 referrals for this from local agencies since November, which is a phenomenal amount.
“We know this is a much-needed service by the local community. It would be a shame to close a project that serves so many.
“We really need someone or a business to help if possible.”
Email [email protected] or search for Helping Hands Community Project on facebook to contact the charity or find out more.
