Forterra donation helps continue the work of warm-space café in Northampton

Northampton Hope Centre recently opened a warm-space café at its offices, open to all who need warmth, shelter and food. As part of the running of the café there are opportunities to volunteer or become peer mentors. Service users work alongside members of staff and receive training, employability skills, confidence and knowledge to develop their own pathways to a more positive future. A new coffee machine has been acquired that will provide those being trained on it with transferable work skills.

Forterra’s donation will help to stock the community café with ingredients such as coffee beans. Additionally, it will help fund the equipment and stock that is used to deliver the charities free ‘Leaning 4 Living’ cookery courses, which are taught by Progress Coaches, where they will make food like cakes and soups. The classes build relationships with users and provides support and development.

The donation will also go towards more art equipment for the art classes on offer that help service users relax and enjoy their creative side.

Tanya Haji-Miller, Northampton Hope Centre Community and Events Fundraiser, said “We are so grateful to everyone at Forterra for their extremely generous financial donation to Hope’s warm-space. The money will be used in a variety of ways including buying food and equipment for the kitchen and helping to train our service users and peer mentors to run the café.

“This training will provide our service users with a lifetime of skills that they will hopefully be able to take out into the wider world and change their lives.”

Caroline Wildman, Marketing Director at Forterra said: “We’re glad that this donation has helped the Hope Centre continue its vital work in providing a safe space for vulnerable people. It’s great to see the warm-space café providing so many opportunities for service users to find support and learn transferable work and life skills.

“The Forterra Community Fund aims to provide support for a variety of worthy causes across the country. Equality and diversity are important topics to us and we welcome applications that seek to make a difference to the local community.”

To apply to the fund, please visit https://www.forterra.co.uk/about-us/community/community-fund/.

For more information on Northampton Hope Centre visit: https://www.northamptonhopecentre.org.uk/