NEW HOME FOR LOCAL GROUPS

When Support Staffordshire decided to give up the lease on Bank House, in St Edward Street, Leek, in summer 2020, this not only gave that charity the task of finding new accommodation, but also made the other charities renting space there, through Support Staffordshire, homeless. Fortunately, most of them found a home at Leek Health Centre and a new notice has just been put up by the back entrance to highlight their presence.

As Support Staffordshire’s North Staffordshire Operations Manager, Jill Norman explains:

“Bank House had been a fantastic home for a range of local voluntary groups since Leek Town Council bought if for that purpose in 1978. Support Staffordshire, and its previous incarnations, including Leek Voluntary Services and Staffordshire Moorlands Community and Voluntary Services, had leased the building since that time. Original users included Leek Citizens Advice (now housed in Moorlands House) and Bank House Day Care Centre (sadly closed a few years ago). Also, Staffordshire Moorlands Talking Newspaper for the Blind was an early tenant.”

“However, more than 40 years later, keeping a large, converted, Listed building in good repair, became too big a drain on charitable resources. Added to the 2020 lockdown with services either temporarily closing, people working from home, and technology hastening different ways of working and providing services, we felt we could no longer continue at Bank House. Fortunately, at that time, offices at Leek Health Centre were being advertised. Four of the Bank House occupiers – Moorlands Voluntary and Community Transport; Borderland Voices; Staffordshire Moorlands Talking Newspaper for the Blind; with Support Staffordshire – all managed to find what they needed at Leek Health Centre.”

As Andy Collins, who coordinates Borderland Voices arts for health and mental well-being, added, ‘We were delighted to be able to move with ‘old friends’ into such clean, comfortable surroundings close to the town centre.’

Jill continues: “It was a wrench leaving Bank House after so many years and a huge task clearing out old paperwork and the accumulation of stuff after 42 years of working there. I must thank Sharon Critchlow, Rob Arnold and Tony Bowyer, for their tireless efforts in tackling this task so well. It would have been impossible without them!”

“Lockdown meant that the move to Leek Health Centre happened quietly and the new offices were not fully used straight away. Gradually services have got back to a new normal and this is a good time to publicly announce where we all are! We haven’t disappeared but are tucked away at Leek Health Centre where our access is at the back of the building, now highlighted by the new notice.”