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A Blackpool entertainment spot is being developed to provide a safe meeting place for homeless people in the area. The crazy golf course on Princess Parade is being renovated by community engagement charity Redeeming Our Communities, homeless charity Street Angels and partly funded by the Fulfilling Lives programme. The site, at the seafront, has become a popular congregation point for homeless people living across the resort over the past few years. Around four months ago Street Angels identified it as a place where they could help sending down a van to provide food, tea, coffee and a person to talk to if needed. Redeeming Our Communities (ROC) is a non-for profit Christian organisation that brings together community groups, churches, the police, the fire service, local authorities and voluntary agencies to empower them to work together for practical change. The organisation has also recognised it as an area it could help and began work on Friday (November 6) blitzing the course by sanding, painting, trimming down the unruly hedges and de-weeding the area. ROC Garden development manager for the ROC Garden team in the North West said: "There's two parts to what we do; the first is to help people back onto the road of employment, building up skills and confidence; the second is gardening. "So far, we have only played a small part in this project it's mainly headed up by Paul Rawson in Blackpool from Street Angels with funding from Fulfilling Lives. "Our ROC Garden team were able to help with some of the maintenance and keeping it looking tidy for the general public and service users to use. "It's definitely making the town centre safer as it was place where a lot of homeless people used to naturally gather and meet. We make efforts to help the nighttime economy safer so we aim to help by providing a safer place for those who struggle with addiction late at night. We'd also like to take on some homeless people as volunteers to maintain the area which could hopefully lead to employment." The site is an old heritage plot which the charity says can't be improved by starting again so the effort has to go into restoring the existing course. The area also evokes a lot of nostalgia as due to it being close to the popular North Pier. So far, the renovation has had an excellent response from the community. Founder of Street Angels, Paul Blakey MBE, said: "I have seen and am impressed with the massive amount of work put into restoring the Crazy Golf Course on Princess Parade by the Blackpool and the Fylde Street Angels and partners. "It is an inspiring story and one that will become a new family favourite attraction on Blackpool's seafront for years to come. That the project will help continue to support the homeless community in Blackpool which sees them offered hope and the possibility of support to get them re-homed is even more of a reason to look forward to the Crazy Golf Course reopening soon. The course is expected to be fully open to the public by Easter 2021. Comments are closed.
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ROC Angels - an initiative of ROC (Redeeming Our Communities)
Charity - 1139817 / Registered Company - 7327258 Postal Address: ROC Angels, c/o The King's Centre, Park Rd, Halifax, HX1 2TS E-Mail: [email protected] (founder / CEO) / Phone: 07725501465 |