Cash grant could help out homeless

The St Martin's Day Centre is to have its opening hours extended, thanks to a lottery grant.

The centre's operator, the Christian Care Association, has been given just over 489,000 from the Big Lottery Fund this week to run the centre.

This will enable the building to open between 9am and 5pm six days a week.

Currently, it is open each week for only ten hours after a lack of funds forced the association to cut the former 37 hours a week opening last April.

The extra hours in 2008 will enable the centre to provide more services than ever to those living on the streets.

This will enable the centre's workers and volunteers to bring calm to the chaotic and unstable lives led by those who sleep rough.

The centre will offer people the chance to turn their lives around by providing needs-based counselling to users.

Between eight and nine out of ten of the individuals suffer from some form of addiction.

More than half '“ 54 per cent '“ are mentally ill.

Life skills training, such as basic literacy and numeracy, are also offered at the West Street centre. Hot snacks and a showers are among the basic services also available there.

St Martin's opened in 2002 and initially helped 200 people a year, aged 16 to 74. A nine month period in 2006 saw it rehouse 47 people from the Arun district. The centre cost at least 150,000 a year to run when it was fully open.

The Christian Care Association's chief executive, Michael Jones, said: 'When our services were cut, some people travelled to the Chichester centre.

'But, unfortunately, a lot of them just disappeared. We expect to see some old faces again soon now the centre is back on its feet.

'Bognor is a particularly deprived area and the centre is a lifeline for many homeless people.

'Our ultimate aim is to get people off the streets and in to accommodation and even work. But it can take up to three years.

'Unfortunately, it doesn't work for everyone but we have some fantastic success stories and some people we've helped now work for us.'

The Big Lottery Fund south east regional head, Alison Rowe, said the award would offer better chances in life to those who were less fortunate.