Fears for future of charity told to move to garage

Hyacinth Francis Watson, who runs The Chayah Project in St Ann's, says if they close, "hundreds of hungry mouths in the city will go unfed"

A woman fears her charity will no longer be able to serve the community after being told to relocate to a garage.

The Chayah Project has operated from the Robin Hood Chase site in St Ann's, Nottingham, since 2016, providing food parcels, low-cost meals and community projects.

But Hyacinth Francis-Watson, who runs the charity, said she was handed an eviction notice and told she could pitch up a stall in a garage instead.

The city council, which issued the notice, said the charity had been advised of the local authority's proposals to redevelop the shops for housing, and the offer of a garage was intended for "short-term" support.

It also said Chayah had occupied the unit on the Chase since 2016 on a peppercorn basis and that this was a temporary arrangement.

'We feel betrayed'

Some of the charity's projects in the city - spanning for more than a decade - include partnering up with Nottinghamshire Police to tackle crime and running mentoring sessions with young men, as well as delivering hundreds of meals to residents in the city.

Mrs Francis-Watson, 63, says they do "everything but surgery".

She fears the service - which includes delivering a minimum of 600 meals per week to families, the elderly and homeless - will cease to exist if the charity is forced to relocate.

Mrs Francis-Watson said the council visited the premises back in February to speak to the charity about the move before being issued a notice to leave in May.

The Chayah Project was then given 28 days to vacate the space, however the charity remained at the site because there was "nowhere else to go", said Mrs Francis-Watson.

In emails seen by the BBC, the council has suggested to move her operation to a garage and "pitch up a stall" to provide meals to the community.

"We have fed, clothed and looked after some of the city's most vulnerable, and now they've turned their back on us," said Mrs Francis-Watson.

"Honestly, we feel betrayed."

The city council says the charity have occupied the unit on the Chase since 2016 on a peppercorn basis

Mrs Francis-Watson said relocating to a garage would be "completely unsuitable".

"Right now, we have eight fridges and two deep freezers packed full of food," she added.

"There is no electric or water supply in the garage, so how would we cook and store our meals? It wouldn't be hygienic.

"In the back we have boxes upon boxes of tinned food, toiletries and clothes. We'd have to rent out a fair few garages to store all of this.

"People will go hungry if we have to move, and that is what worries me."

One of the people accessing the charity's meal service is 55-year-old Colin Davis, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 2011 - a genetic condition that causes the muscles to worsen over time.

Mr Davis said: "Because of my condition, cooking and shopping for a nutritious meal is impossible. I don't have the physical strength to do so.

"Ordering takeaway all of the time would become unaffordable and be so unhealthy, making me feel worse.

"I rely on these meals. Sometimes, the team at Chayah might be the only people I'll see for the week and it means the world to me."

The store room at the Robin Hood Chase site is stacked with boxes of tinned food, toiletries and clothing

Mrs Francis-Watson added she had spent thousands of pounds from her own pocket refurbishing the site, and she would be "devastated" to see it go.

"When the council first gave us this space, it was an empty post office with a bulletproof screen. It needed so many repairs," she said.

"We turned it into something special by making it into a place where people in the community feel at home.

"This decision is cold and callous. That is how I feel."

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: "We understand and acknowledge the valuable work The Chayah Project does in the St Ann's community.

"However, the parade of shops is no longer viable for commercial use and, the Council must move forward with plans to repurpose this land for social housing."

It added: "We explored options such as a garage for storage of non-perishable goods and a pitch on the Chase Centre Square for distributing food parcels. At no point was a garage offered or suggested as a full relocation or long-term solution. Suggestions were intended as short-term support to help with the transition."