A Letter From The Chief Executive (July 2010)

Dear Supporters,

The great news of this quarter is that our new extension, "The Irene Kennedy Centre" is now finished, open, and being used for a myriad of different activities. It has been named after one of The Arks most long standing volunteers and members of staff who has retired due to ill health. On April 21st on a lovely sunny day, Irene herself came and cut the ribbon, followed by a buffet for over a hundred guests. A wonderful day was had by all, and a milestone in the life of Wirral Churches' Ark Project. The centre is now a hive of activity - it opens early morning as a drop-in for rough sleepers, during the day it is used for a variety of training sessions such as Life Skills and Peer Mentoring, and it is also used during the evening for meetings and sessions by groups such as Narcotics Anonymous. We also have a weekly basic cookery class, an Arts and Crafts morning, and two activity mornings where table tennis and table football encourage clients to get active and interact with each other, staff and volunteers... all important social skills.

We continue to occupy an important position in the Pathway model set up by Supporting People... the Ark being phase one and Arkangel being phase three. We often find ourselves taking those clients who are unable to access other providers for various reasons and I'm proud to say our reputation with transforming the lives of such people is second to none.

Our Social Enterprise, Wirral Ark Dinghies goes from strength to strength and more information about WAD can be found on this web site. Our reputation as repairers and restorers of small boats grows all the time, with enquiries from all over the country. The clients who work there gain invaluable work experience and the satisfaction of seeing something they have restored being sold at the end of it.

We continue to need new volunteers for a variety of roles... particularly those who can work at weekends. If anyone would like more information, then please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Joyce Lowe, on the Ark number, or through the contact form on this site.

Many thanks to all for the comments and enquiries that I receive through this site. If anyone would like to come and visit to see first hand our work here they would be most welcome. Please just contact me at the Ark to arrange a date.

Sincerely,

Anne O'Marah
Chief Executive