New welfare centre for homeless and vulnerable people in Leeds appeals for volunteers

The walk-in hub is the latest initiative from Hayden Lee Jessop, a homeless campaigner who has been inspired to help others get a second chance after turning his own life round following a short spell in prison in 2013, and local businessman Glen Crosthwaite, who also supports other local charities and hospices.

Hayden founded charitable organisation Vulnerable Citizen Support which, in partnership with Leeds-based Servo Group, has acquired a 2000 sq ft space to set up the VCS Walk In Welfare Centre at Canal Road, LS12. The open day was aimed at finding businesses and individuals to offer support, volunteers to work as outreach workers, man its headquarters and help with its newly set up food bank and tradespeople who can offer time to help.

The company launched the city’s first mobile welfare unit in 2019, to offer instant, accessible support to homeless and vulnerable adults in the city centre. The walk-in centre will offer a permanent site for this assistance, which includes everything from help filling in forms or gaining referrals to finding a safe place for a hot drink and a chat.

Vulnerable Citizen Support gained full accreditation as a CSC registered company last month

Mr Crosthwaite said: “The walk-in centre has been one of our goals for a long-time – it will provide a permanent base for VCS and a place where homeless and vulnerable adults, who are in that situation for whatever reason, can find us and gain instant, accessible help. We opened our doors on Friday so people could see what we want to achieve with the centre and so that businesses and individuals could find out some of the ways they can help our initiatives through volunteering, donating time, skills or even clothes or food bank provisions.

“Our mobile welfare unit has been a huge success, delivering help to hundreds so far but having a permanent, fixed base will help us spread our reach so much further at a time when homelessness and poverty in Leeds is reaching crisis point. Now that VCS is a registered CIC charitable organisation, we are in a position to raise funds which will go towards supporting all the initiatives we are delivering.”

Vulnerable Citizen Support has been working with multi-service provider Servo, which was recently nominated for Charitable Business of the Year in the Yorkshire Choice Awards, for four years and the registration as a CIC Charity formalises the joint partnership. The organisation has also gained the support of a host of other local businesses including The Big Word, Morrisons in Kirkstall and Ace Containers.