Homebuilder supports the beating heart of Shrewsbury’s charities
Barratt Homes has donated £500 to the Roy Fletcher Centre, which provides low cost, good quality office accommodation to other registered charities delivering a service to the people of Shrewsbury.
The Centre, located near Barratt Homes’ development The Lilies, opened in 1997 and has meeting and counselling rooms which are available for hire by organisations within the local community. The Centre itself provides IT tuition to more than 200 people, through a combination of one-to-one sessions and weekly drop-ins.
Jenny Taylor, Chief Executive at The Roy Fletcher Centre, said: “Barratt Homes’ generous donation is extremely welcome as we know that, in the current financial climate, charities are having to pursue less and less available funding, so at the Roy Fletcher Centre we were pleasantly surprised and very appreciative for the recognition of the work we do in our community.
“Support from external donors allows greater flexibility in decision-making by trustees in terms of how far we can assist our tenant charities and alleviate some of their extreme financial pressures, allowing them to provide a fully comprehensive service to the maximum extent of their budget.”
The Roy Fletcher Centre was established by the Roy Fletcher Charitable Trust, set up by Roy Fletcher, a builder and philanthropist in Shrewsbury.
The Trust, administered by Roy Fletcher’s son and daughters, acquired and converted the former Livesey Printing Works to fulfil their father’s vision of a Centre for caring and charitable organisations in Shrewsbury.
He wanted local charities to have a place under one roof with high-quality facilities without commercial level rents, thus making more of their funds available for delivery of services to the community.
Jenny continued: “Our tenant charities often work with people in the community who have fallen through the cracks in the help offered by the local authority and public services. For instance, understanding that if a person presenting with a housing issue may well have a back story involving other problems, domestic or personal.
“Then, the benefit of being able to make referrals to other resident organisations manifests. Debt issues can be referred to the Citizens Advice Bureau, and mental health issues to counselling or other therapeutic assistance, for example.”
The charities using the Roy Fletcher Centre include Axis Counselling, which has supported over 1,900 survivors of sexual abuse. There’s also Crane Quality Counselling, working with 871 adults and children involving a total of 5,229 sessions of counselling, as well as Shrewsbury Food Hub, which has rescued 214 tonnes of food from unnecessary waste and redistributed it to produce 511,000 meals.
Adrian Evans, Managing Director at Barratt Homes West Midlands, said: “The Roy Fletcher Centre is a pillar of the Shrewsbury community, supporting various other charities which carry out vital work to uplift struggling members of the community and providing them with space.
“We are proud to support the Centre in its mission, and we hope to raise greater awareness of this organisation and the charities supported by it so that more people can offer a helping hand.”
To find out more about the Centre and the charities that call it their home, visit the website at the Roy Fletcher Centre.
