Wrongly convicted postmistress in £2,400 boost the Shrewsbury Ark

Rubinna Shaheen was subpostmistress at Greenfields Post Office in Shrewsbury before she was prosecuted for false accounting and theft.

She was cleared along with 700 wrongly accused Post Office workers in April 2021 when the Court of Appeal found a computer system called Horizon was to blame for the accounting inaccuracies.

The Post Office Scandal, as it became known, went on to become the biggest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

Now the cleared former postmistress has lent her support to Shrewsbury Ark, a day centre that provides ongoing support for the homeless and vulnerable, with a £2,400 gift.

Following her donation, Mrs Shaheen attended a unique event at The Ark on Wednesday, when a Shrewsbury Rotary club was joined by two other Rotary clubs from London.

Four members of the Rotary Clubs of Tower Hamlets and Woodford Green visited for a meet up at The Ark with a similar number of members of Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club.

Rubinna and her husband, Mohammed, joined Rotarians for the meeting where Emily Bell, The Ark's chair of trustees, outlined the services, support and background following the purchase of the property just over two years ago.

Emily told the visitors that The Ark was now a day centre for 50 homeless and vulnerable people who were provided with a cooked breakfast and lunch and was seeing an increase in need from rough sleepers, those in real crisis, others on the borderline of becoming homeless and some whose mental health was declining.

She said the most heavily used area at The Ark was the kitchen which was in need of attention, adding that she would also like to renovate the rear car park which the charity has recently been able to purchase with funding from the Bradbury Charitable Trust and replace the roof above the day centre which also needed urgent attention.

The Rotary clubs have agreed that this would be possible through a process of match funding and a Rotary global grant.

Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club has agreed to match fund the £2,400 gift from Rubinna Shaheen, and in collaboration with the London Rotary clubs will jointly apply for a Rotary global grant which would provide a minimum of £25,000 for equipment and related improvements.

Emily said: “I am truly grateful for the interest the three Rotary clubs are putting in our organisation.

"We do need to upgrade our kitchen which is an essential part of our service to the community.”