St Peter’s Centre
ST PETER’S CENTRE IN HILLFIELDS UNVEILS NEW AND IMPROVED KITCHEN
Centre awarded £5,000 from WPH Charitable Trust to ease access for disabled people
Disabled visitors to St Peter’s Centre in the Hillfields area of Coventry are making the most of a new kitchen – thanks to a £5,000 grant from the WPH Charitable Trust.
Rise and fall units for wheelchair users, and lighting and flooring with specified colours to support partially sighted people, are among the special features for disabled people using the new facility.
And thanks to the installation of training cameras in the kitchen, the centre now has the perfect facility to give cooking demonstrations to large groups of people watching from a large screen in an adjacent hall.
Joan Haywood, Centre Manager, said the added features were the result of a number of requests from centre users, more than a third of whom live with a disability.
With a footfall of 42,000 last year – and having never received a refurbishment since first opening in 2001 – Joan said the centre had been badly in need of the new kitchen.
Talks began in early 2016 and the project was completed in mid July this year.
Joan said: “Thirty-five per cent of our regular users have physical or mental health challenges. One of our largest groups is the Coventry Asian Blind Association, while the remaining 65 per cent include children and elderly people who attend with groups such as Cook and Eat Well, which works with disadvantaged families.
“Our old kitchen was not fit for purpose. The cupboards were damaged and the facilities were unsuitable – some people found it impossible to use.”
The new kitchen was part of a wider £75,000 project to renovate the whole centre – including a new heating system, and new flooring and upgraded lighting, to meet the needs of people with visual impairment or dementia.
Joan said centre users had been delighted with the improvements. She thanked WPH Charitable Trust for its donation, adding: “This kitchen is the jewel in the crown. It is an excellent facility available for all members of the community to use.”
St Peter’s Centre is inviting disabled groups and other interested parties from across Coventry to use the kitchen.
For further details contact St Peter’s Centre on 024 763 2877.
WPH Charitable Trust provides funding for individuals, groups and organisations to help prevent, relieve and cure sickness in Coventry and Warwickshire.
Grants are available for medical research, buildings, equipment and other forms of medical care for residents across the region.
Trustees are actively seeking applications from residents in Coventry and Warwickshire with medical needs.
Applications can be made via the Trust’s website and are assessed on a quarterly basis.
For further details log on to our website
