News
Charity shelves halfway house plan for homeless
A CHARITY helping Maidstone’s homeless has been forced to pull out of a plan to provide short-stay accommodation at a former town centre pub. The charity Homeless Care was hoping to buy the former Cricketers pub (pictured) in Mote Road but has nowwithdrawn its offer after delays in obtaining planning consent made the project unaffordable. The trustees had been negotiating
the purchase of the former pub with the owner for more than a year, dur- ing which time property prices have risen. By the time the necessary plan- ning consentswere obtained for the conversion, the vendor had in- creased the price by 8% – putting it beyond the charity’s budget. But every cloud has a silver lining
and the time lapse means Homeless Care is now looking at newways of supporting its clients, which may not necessarily require a “halfway house” such as this. Chairman Mike FitzGerald said:
“It isnowtwo years sincewe started looking for a property and life has changed.
“Instead of providing our clients
with short-term accommodation,we are looking atways of lending them support during the first period of their time living independently and trying to keep them housed. “We are still committed to seeking
the best way of bringing our clients into independent living, but each client has different needs, with sup- port required for varying periods.” Homeless Care says its volunteers,
staff and trustees will continue to concentrate their efforts on helping homelessmenandwomenturn their lives around by assisting them to find accommodation and at the
same time providing basic needs such as hot showers, clean clothes and home-cooked meals. Homeless Care will also offer IT support, so clients can access bene- fits, accommodation and jobs online. MrFitzGerald said: “Our staff will continue to offer support to newly- housed people, but instead of look- ing at a ‘halfway house’ we will be seeking to get our clients housed and focus on keeping them there.” A soup run in 1986 organised by teachers and pupils from Maidstone Girls Grammar School was the be- ginning of what has now become Homeless Care, the town’s leading charity for homeless and vulnerable men and women. Originally Maidstone Christian
Care, it merged with Goodsell House Trust in 2013 to become Homeless Care, the umbrella organ- isation for the Maidstone Day Cen- tre, the community food share scheme Food for Thought, the 10- bed hostel at Goodsell House and Maidstone Christian Care, its link with the churches who continue to help the cause.
Work starts on
community centre WORK has begun on a new com- munity centre in Tovil. Representatives fromthe parish council, Golding Homes, Maid- stone YMCA and the borough council witnessed the demolition of the Children’s Hut, on the site off Courtenay Road. Golding Homes has committed
more than £1m to the project, and the YMCA nearly £400,000 to equip and manage the centre. Chris Blundell, Golding Homes
director of development and re- generation, said the centre will be a great addition, at the heart of a really vibrant community. Lynda Dale, CEO of Maidstone
YMCA, added: “It’s fantastic to see work taking place.” She is pictured with Chris Blun-
dell.
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