A Norwich-based charity that helps children and adults with profound disabilities has launched an appeal for a new base after a search proved fruitless.
The Hamlet, which works to break down barriers for people living with disabilities and complex health needs through recreational, educational and social opportunities, hopes a good samaritan will step forward with suitable premises for rent.
The-Hamlet-Community-Video-Project-
The charity currently has two centres including its flagship building in Johnson Place and a converted Victorian school on Ella Road in Thorpe Hamlet used for adult services.
The Covid pandemic saw them open a short-term third site in order to continue to provide services that could not be done in a socially-distanced way.
Now it is seeking a more permanent third location to ease the pressure on crowded Ella Road and allow them to help more people.
Hamlet Centre Trust chief executive Pauline Morgan said: “What we don’t want to do is to go back to being squashed into one building.
“Opening additional premises in the pandemic has been an eye-opener. We have realised is that having the extra space makes the care and activities and management of the young adults with very complex needs much easier and much better.
“Also there is a demand for our services so we would like to be able to take some more youngsters.”
The charity has a longer term goal of a new building to replace Ella Road but in the interim is seeking to rent premises that are 2,000 square feet or larger with accessible facilities including a disabled toilet and a kitchen.
Ms Morgan said: “We are a bit desperate really. Most places but most have been horrendously expensive. Obviously we are a charity and this is completely additional and we cannot expect the support to carry on in the way it has because most has been emergency Covid support.
“But we hope someone will come forward with somewhere that we might rent. It really needs to be within the southern bypass and the NDR because we don’t want to be some kind of stuck out in the middle or nowhere institution. We want to be at the centre of the community.”
Anyone able to help can email admin@thehamletcharity.org.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here