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Another brick in the wall for new homeless centre  By
Trevor O’sullivan
A NEW era is dawning for one of London’s best-known Irish institutions.
Work is well under way on Cricklewood Homeless Concern’s (CHC)
new community centre with the end almost in sight.
And to mark the occasion a ceremony last week saw the laying of the project’s
1,000th brick.
The landmark event was attended by a number of dignitaries including Brent
East Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather.
CHC director Danny Maher spoke passionately about what the building will
mean for Brent and the Irish when it is finally completed in November.
He said: “It is a very significant milestone for us in terms of
plans for the future.
“This will be a community centre for Irish people and particularly
vulnerable Irish people that need a bit of support.
“We cater for a particularly older Irish population.
“A large proportion of our clients are in that age group and this
new centre will provide a place wherever they can meet their friends,
have a hot meal and for us to help them with any problems they have got.
“If anybody knew the old centre it wasn’t the greatest place
to work or indeed help our Irish people.
“This is a modern centre with all mod-cons and will make all our
jobs easier and more effective and we will be able to help people much
better than in the past.
“It will allow people to tap into the wide resources out there which
they may have shunned in the past.”
The new centre will offer facilities alongside housing in-cluding training,
medical ser-
vices and drug and alcohol advice.
MP Sarah Teather believes the service will revolutionise care for the
disadvantaged in Brent.
She said: “It is so exciting to see it now finally take shape.
“For as long as I have known about Cricklewood Homeless Concern
we have been fighting to get money for this building.
“It is going to mean so much for the people of Brent who make
use of this valuable service.
“It’s a very special place and I think everybody in Brent
will be delighted when it is finished.
“There is an enormous need for this kind of service in Brent and
for the people who are homeless and who also need other types of services
such as counselling, education and help with accessing benefits.
“The great thing about CWC is that it’s not just a place
for people to sleep it helps put people back on the road to recovery and
get their lives back on track.” |
