Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Waterloo Christian Centre under pressure

May 22 2009
Webber Street cannot yet fill the gap left by NLDC in terms of either staffing levels or funding With the closure of the North Lambeth Day Centre (NLDC) in November last year, the pressure on services at Webber Street has increased, at a time when they are already feeling the strain of staff shortages. When NLDC, the St John's-based day centre managed by St Mungo's, closed, The Pavement reported comments by Richard Cunningham, Street Population coordinator in Lambeth, that the Webber Street drop-in service would still be providing a service. But no mention was made of manpower or financial support for Webber Street. Now it appears that Webber Street isn't yet in any state to fill the gap left by NLDC, in either staffing levels or funding. Mr Maze, a spokesperson for the Webber Street centre, said, "unfortunately the centre is currently facing extreme staffing issues and because of this we are unable to open for the hours we would like to". This comes on top of wrangling within the organisation over plans to employ non-christian staff - against their long established customs. We can also now report that The London City Mission, who own the day centre, have had general talks with Lambeth Council on the issue of funding and they are waiting to hear back. Terry Puttick, director of ministries at London City Mission, told The Pavement on 16th January that, "we will be open for discussion with Lambeth with regard to financial help or supports." The hope is that Webber Street can keep its open-door policy and unique character, despite the changes in staff and pursuit of council funding.
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