‘Find home for project aiding vulnerable’

VOLUNTEERS working for a project providing the vulnerable and homeless with advice, food and hot showers have made a desperate plea for help as their base is set to be demolished.

The Weekend Service Users Project in Woolwich is a drop-in service that helps over 100 people a week. It is run on Tuesdays and Saturdays and those in need can get hot food, clothes, showers, haircuts, counselling, legal help and art therapy sessions.

It started as a project for those with drug and alcohol problems but helps anyone in need of its services, including the unemployed and homeless. The project, run by Greenwich council until funding was cut in 2014, is based at Central Woolwich Baptist Church. The site is set to be demolished and rebuilt as part of major regeneration work.

Demolition could st ar t within 12 months with the scheme hoping to return once the work is completed, but this is set to take three years.

WSUP assistant manager Helen Ryan said the project, which relies on donations to survive, is well supported by the “fantastic” community and church. “We are appealing to people in the community to put their heads together and think of somewhere. We need some- where big with a kitchen and a shower. This is a service that helps a lot of people,” she said. “The church hopes to accommodate us when the new one is built in three years’ time. The clients can’t wait that long though.”

The Reverend Israel Olofinjana, of the Central Woolwich Baptist Church, said WSUP “makes vulnerable people realise they are human beings. We’ve been helping them try to find a home. They want to stay in Woolwich which is difficult with all the regeneration”.

Greenwich council said: “We would happily help the church identify suitable accommodation.”