‘BUSY FEW WEEKS’ AS NEW HOMELESS CENTRE WELCOMES ITS FIRST GUESTS
WOODEN pods set up inside a warehouse to give the homeless somewhere to sleep during the coronavirus pandemic have welcomed their first guests.
Stoke-on-trent City Council has been moving residents out of the Macari Centre, in Hanley, following Government lockdown instructions to close down dormitory-style facilities.
While some of the occupants have relocated to the Holiday Inn Express, in Trentham Lakes, others now have their very-own mini shelter inside a disused building 300 yards further along Regent Road.
Each fire-resistant pod provides eight square metres of floor space with an individual bed and a closeable front door.
Writing on Facebook, the Macari Centre said: “It has been an incredibly busy few weeks for everyone at the Macari Centre.
“The ‘pod’ accommodation is now up and running with people living at the new warehouse site in Hanley.
“There are a few companies we’d like to give a special mention to, including Arch Leisure who supplied the accommodation pods.”
The council’s housing repairs company Unitas has also been working to convert the 22,500sq ft building into a ‘bespoke new centre’, with toilet and shower blocks, a kitchen, laundry, staff facilities and upgraded electrics. Unitas is also building another 12 en-suite rooms.
Former Stoke City manager Lou Macari opened the centre in partnership with the council in 2016 and around 40 people were using the facility when the lockdown began in March.
Lou said: “The pods have really caught the imagination of the homeless people we bring in to the centre, and they are really looking forward to the move. We’re now trying to make that happen as quickly as possible. It will be a new start to their life.”
The Macari Centre, which has been heavily used ever since it opened, has been looking to move to a larger facility, with the council earmarking the current site for disposal.
But no decision has yet been made on whether the Regent Road warehouse will become the centre’s permanent home.
The project is being paid for out of the council’s £16 million coronavirus funding from the Government.