Press Release

21st January 2010

New Year, new home for Alabaré's clothing centre

Alabaré’s clothing service will continue supporting homeless and vulnerable adults throughout 2010, thanks to the help of St Paul’s church.

Kitted Out!, which provides good quality second hand clothing to homeless and vulnerable people, had feared it would need to suspend its service in 2010 if it couldn’t find new premises.

It usually operates from Barnard House in Barnard Street, however during the re-development of the adjoining Damascus House and Emmaus House, an alternative venue needed to be found.  St Paul’s Church stepped in and generously offered their empty shop premises to the charity. 

For the next 18 months (approx) Kitted Out! will operate from 159 - 161 Fisherton Street – on St Paul’s roundabout. 

The opening times and service will remain the same:

Open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30am to 12:30pm. Customers can browse rails and boxes of clothing and pick the items they want.  All of the goods have been kindly donated to Alabaré.  People can only access the service if they have been referred by another agency/body (e.g. Care Managers, community teams, Social Services) using the correct referral procedure - for more information about this please contact Jackie Moore on 01722 742298.

Andrew Robertson, General Manager of St Paul’s Church, says “We are pleased to be able to offer some space to Alabaré. The empty shop will eventually form part of our redevelopment project, but we are not planning to commence work on it for a while yet so the timing was perfect.”

Kitted Out Manager Jackie Moore thanked all at St Paul’s for their help saying “Kitted Out! has proved to be an invaluable service and has already helped so many vulnerable people in the local area.  Thanks to the generous support of St Paul’s this service can continue and go on to help many more.”

An official opening event will take place next month – more details to follow.

-Ends-

For more information or to arrange an interview call Lara Higgins on 01722 344488

Alabaré Christian Care Centres is a charity that works with homeless and vulnerable people.  We have more than 40 projects across Wiltshire, Hampshire, Plymouth, Bournemouth, Devon, Dorset, Bristol and North Somerset providing a range of services including drop-in centres, supported accommodation, a registered care home, and advice and training.  We work with the homeless, those at risk of becoming homeless, ex-offenders, ex-Service personnel, people with drug and alcohol issues, young people, vulnerable women, individuals with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems.  Our vision is a society where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a fulfilling life.

www.alabare.co.uk

Alabaré Christian Care Centres is now operating under the new trading name of Alabaré Christian Care & Support.  This new name has been chosen by our board of Trustees to better reflect the work that we do in our projects and the services that we offer.  A new logo has also been created to incorporate our new name.

Our legal and Registered Charity name remains Alabaré Christian Care Centres (Registered Charity No 1006504).