Social help award winner sets up centre

Volunteer project manager Carol Darbyshire, the Home Office drug worker of the year for Yorkshire in 2006, when she worked for Kirklees Lifeline as a drug and alcohol outreach worker, opened a drop-in centre at Batley Central Methodist Church yesterday.

The drop-in centre has been running since November but only this week its volunteers were told that it had passed a trial period.

Yesterday marked the official opening.

Carol, who is currently unemployed, said: “My initial intentions were to offer a warm welcome, a hot meal in a comfortable venue and provide help and support to homeless and socially isolated people.

“After recruiting and training a team of 20 volunteers, the service we provided at the drop-in centre got off to a great start.

“Members of the community and local businesses made donations and funding came from the Kirklees Faith Forum and the council’s area committee.”

She said the centre was attracting a range of people, from the homeless to the elderly, as well as people with substance misuse issues.

The drop-in centre will be opening two mornings a week, Monday and Thursday, but could be open for longer if all goes well.

A local bakery is currently helping out by providing food and a local woman is cooking various hot meals and bringing them in.

“We are now feeding 30-plus people per session. Some of those coming in are living on the streets or they are ‘sofa surfing’, that is living with friends and then moving on.

“We also have older people coming in for a chat and some company. We also have people affected by substance misuse.

“Batley is among the places with the worst records for alcohol misuse in the country.”