A HOMELESS centre in Worcester is seeking bigger premises to cope with rising demand from people sleeping rough in the city.

The Maggs Day Centre is being stretched to bursting point as volunteers work round-the-clock to give people shelter from the current freezing conditions.

A Government grant of £15,000 from the Rough Sleepers Unit means up to 12 down-and-outs can spend the night at the hall in Deansway.

But as Rob Peachey, chairman of the Maggs trustees, pointed out, this was putting a strain on staff, who were already working long hours in cramped conditions.

"We have to give priority to regulars who use the centre during the day, as we only have room for a dozen to sleep," he said.

"We are aware there are up to 25 rough sleepers in the city, so we desperately need bigger premises to accommodate these people.

"Thanks to the grant we will be providing the sleep-in service until the end of February and will then return to our normal daytime hours."

Mr Peachey said he spent Sunday mornings driving around looking at buildings to which the centre could potentially move.

"Our ideal home would be somewhere like the old St Helen's Church in Fish Street. It's currently empty and not only used to be home to the county records but also the YMCA," he added.

"If we managed to secure a building like this, it would be four times bigger than our current site and would give us the space to not only extend our sleeping facilities but also provide a family room.

"We would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a suitable building we could move to.

"Ideally, it needs to be within a mile of the city centre as we need to be accessible to the people who use the facility."

If anyone can help, contact Sheila Huggins on 01905 25027.

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