Heartbreak in the Pennines as hub of community faces closure

Staff and customers at Todmorden's hugely popular Acorn Centre, set up as a charity by local people almost a decade ago in the heart of the town, yesterday spoke of their shock and disappointment at the news it may be forced to close its doors for good by the end of the week.

The centre is typical of the numerous small-scale community projects which the Yorkshire Post is working to support through its Communities in Need appeal, which launched on Saturday.

The newspaper is calling on every reader and every local business to contribute towards its anti-poverty fund, which will be distributed to charitable schemes across the region in the new year.

The Acorn Centre's trustees said they have faced enormous problems accessing public funds in the current climate, and attacked the coalition Government's "Big Society" message which suggests "we are somehow supposed to fund these things ourselves.

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Chairwoman Janet Waithaka said: "We've done all sorts of activities which were needed in this community, and we've been thriving.

Everything seems to be doing well, and yet we've got into difficulties with funding. We will be holding a board meeting on Friday to make a final decision, but it looks like we may have to sell the building to pay our debts. And without the building, we can't do it. We are right on the edge now. We need funding very, very quickly.

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The centre has provided work and training to 50 people from across the local area in the past six months alone, mainly through the national Future Jobs Fund programme. Its services include a community cafe with internet access, youth services, counselling, facilities for homeless people as well as a range of training courses for people living in rural areas around Todmorden.

But the public spending squeeze has left many charities desperately short of cash, with grants and contracts from Government and local authorities in short supply.

Acorn Centre trustee Sandy White said: "The change of Government has not helped. They have cutting back so much on these sorts of grants. With the 'Big Society' we are somehow supposed to fund things ourselves in the community.

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Mrs Waithaka and Mrs White were instrumental in establishing the centre in 2002 after five years' planning. Both women were keen to do something to help the local unemployed.

"Todmorden is not a rich town by any means," Mrs Waithaka said. "There are very few industries here. We felt there was a real need for something for these people who are looking for jobs, or who have given up looking for jobs, to come in and skill themselves up with computers, learn how to make CVs and so on. There just isn't anything like that for miles around here.

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They now face seeing the product of their hard work disappear, along with a long-promised grant from the Government that simply never materialised.

Behind the counter in the cafe downstairs, meanwhile, 39-year-old Amanda Drysdale does not know if she will have a job beyond the end of the week.

"I really enjoy working here," she said. "It's been something to look forward to in the morning. I'd been out of work for 18 months before this. You get to know all the locals, and this is what they look forward to every day – coming in here and having a chat with everyone. We're like a little family.

"But we've all cried our tears and accepted it now. It's going to be a real shame."