Charity wins £35,000 from National Lottery project

BCS chair of trustees, Sue Collins, said the charity aimed to respond to the needs of the local community

A Suffolk charity has won over £35,000 from the National Lottery-run The People's Projects.

Bungay Community Support (BCS) came out top after a public vote featuring five charities who were nominated in the region.

BCS runs a community hub which helps local people access services, as well as providing advice and support.

Its hub will also include a community fridge with food donated by locals and businesses.

The John Groom butcher shop was transformed into Number 28

A building, that was once the John Groom butcher's shop on Wingfield Street, was turned into BCS's base in November.

It is now called Number 28 and is currently being renovated to fit the organisation's requirements.

Before having its own premises, the charity was borrowing spaces from Bungay Town Council, the church or the local library.

Now, having private office space and more resources available, BCS said it could offer services such as Citizens Advice.

Sue Collins, BCS chair of trustees, said the funding would "make a huge difference to what we can do for our residents, and for this project to continue and grow as the town needs us".

"The whole idea of our charity is to respond to the needs of our community," she said.

The community hub is undergoing renovation to fit the charity's requirements

Part of the money would also go towards the salaries of part-time staff.

Ms Collins added that the new funding would enable BCS to be "more secure for the next year so that we know that we can get all the additional things in place that serve the community".

"Especially with the cost of living crisis, one of the things that Bungay didn't have is, perhaps, the sorts of facilities that some of the other market towns had, in terms of community, so this actually fills that gap," she said.

"Bungay now has its own hub, its own equivalent of a family centre."

BCS is holding an open day on Tuesday, 6 June between 11:00 and 16:00 BST to encourage people to visit their renovated hub.