Member Article

Community hub offer to Cannock groups

A leading West Midlands charity has thrown a lifeline to community groups, voluntary organisations and business start-ups in the Cannock area.

Beacon Centre for the Blind is offering a meeting room in its Cannock charity shop for local groups or individuals as a ‘community hub’, as retail operations manager Tracy Ford explains.

She said: “As an organisation that exists to support local needs – and with our philosophy of getting the best value out of every resource available to us – we feel it is important that we work with the community to benefit our neighbourhood.

“We are calling for support groups, craft clubs or voluntary organisations that need a regular meeting space to get in touch. We have lots of space, available during trading hours, and we feel certain there are many groups and individuals who could make use of it, in return for a small donation to the charity.

“We operate seven charity shops in prominent locations across the West Midlands and Cannock is one of our largest. The premises were formerly a bank, so there is a lot more behind the shop frontage than people might imagine.

“We have a large room on the first floor that would be perfect for meeting or talks, such as for a sports club committee or sewing circle, a book club or maybe even a consulting room for a counsellor or therapist? If anyone has mobility issues we also have a smaller room on the ground floor that can be made available.”

Any groups or individuals interested in making use of the ‘community hub’ can contact Tracy via the shop on 01543 467852 or call in at 18 Market Street, Cannock to find out more.

All money raised from the sale of new goods and quality donated items at Beacon’s shops – in Wolverhampton, Bilston, Bloxwich, Wednesbury, Cannock, Halesowen and the centre in Sedgley – supports a range of services for people of all ages living with a visual impairment.

The Beacon Centre for the Blind offers a full range of facilities and support partially sighted people, including a mix of residential, day care and community services.

More than 3,000 people in the community receive support from a team of dedicated outreach workers and social groups can meet at the Sedgley centre to participate in arts and crafts, music, fitness and IT sessions.

To find out more visit www.beacon4blind.co.uk or call into the Cannock shop.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Caroline Garbett .