*Sally has been supported by Hope Community Hub since the project first began running in June. Sally has two children aged under 10 and is a single parent. Sally had a job offer prior to lockdown, however, this was withdrawn when the pandemic hit and she struggled to find work. This had a negative impact on her mental health and wellbeing. Sally had to manage a household on a limited income and home school her three children. Our hub has supported Sally with emotional support online/over the telephone and via doorstep visits to her home. Sally and her children have accessed our Hub hot meals once per week and holiday hub packed lunches during the school holidays. Part of our role was also to put her in touch with agencies that could support her with her finances, mental health and to seek employment. Sally tells us ‘I am so grateful for the help and kindness that I have received from the community hub, I have to take things day by day, but I don’t like to think where we’d be if we hadn’t accepted the support. Having someone to share things with and to support me has made things so much easier. I have never thought that I would be in this situation but now I know it’s okay- there are people who can help us’.

• name has been changed

We know asking for help isn’t easy and taking that first step can be difficult. Now more than ever people are finding things tough.  If you don’t know where to turn or how to access help, you could try calling or texting us on 07395 959240 and we will offer you some friendly advice or support.

During Covid, we had to change our contact numbers whilst the Centre was shut.

If you want to call or text us, here are the all important numbers:

Early Years 07851 962461 Child Contact Centre 07495 470476 Hope Community Hub & Gen Enquiries 07395 959240 Café bookings (open14/9): 07377 890 027

We are gradually reopening more services and the café will be open from September 14th on a booking system only. We have created individual soft play zones with a basket of toys for children who visit.  These are wipeable and will be changed after every visit to minimise risk of infection. We are also offering booking slots and different menus, which will be different from how we used to be before lockdown.  We are going to keep a close eye on how things develop and may change things.  We would love to know what you think!

We value all the comments and feedback that we receive.  For everyone at the charity, it makes a difference to how we do what we do and helps us make sure we are doing the right things to help.  We think giving feedback matters because it shows us how to improve and is a useful way of checking our service is relevant and what people need.  Here are some of the most recent comments we’ve had from some of the people involved with us:

“I can’t thank the hope enough for all of their ongoing support for my little girl and me. Even through this terrible pandemic they have put 110% dedication and hard work in to helping lots of families.  Thank you Hope Centre and a massive thank you to all the staff x”

“Just talking to someone over videocall once a week has been really good for my mental health. It has been a lonely time not seeing family and friends as much as i could before. All the staff are friendly and helpful and I don’t feel so alone”

“Thank you so much for helping me… I was really struggling to access any support with COVID and this has helped me so much thank you”

We are going to open the café from September 14th and look forward to seeing you all again. Please note that things will be a little different and so we would like you to call us on check out Facebook and/or Twitter for our latest news.  We will be open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays initially. We will be running a booking system and you will need to call us on 07377 890027 for more details of how to book and what you will need to do.

We look forward to seeing you very soon!