Crossroads Community Hub awarded Severn Trent Community Funding

CC Hub CIC is celebrating after receiving £12,000 from the Severn Trent Community Fund to help local provide crucial support to individuals within our communities grappling with the escalating cost-of-living crisis.

Local community group, Crossroads Community Hub, is today celebrating after being awarded £12,030 in funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund to support its work helping individuals within our communities grappling with the escalating cost-of-living crisis. The group, based in Dickson’s Drive Newton Chester, will use the cash to extend the hours of its Debt Advisor and Empowerment Worker so that he will be available for an extra 2 days a week.

Crossroads Community Hub has been running since 2020 and is staffed by 3 part time staff and 35 volunteers. It was founded by Hoole Baptist Church during the Coronavirus pandemic by delivering emergency food parcels to those in need. Since then, it has grown into a vibrant hub supporting a range of services aimed at helping local communities. The hub now runs projects like the Greenway Grocer, delivering affordable fruit and vegetables by bike along Chester’s Greenway cycle path. This initiative helps make fresh, healthy food more accessible. In October 2024 we extended the hours of our Debt Advisor and Empowerment Worker partnering with St Mark's Debt Advice Centre offering Debt Advice & Budgeting Support as part of St Mark's Debt Advice Centre Team which is affiliated to Community Money Advice.

The hub's Meeting Place Cafe offers a warm space where visitors can enjoy hot drinks, connect with others, and access support services. Open multiple days a week, it also functions as part of the Warm Welcome campaign, providing a safe, welcoming environment, particularly during the cost-of-living crisis.

In addition to local support, Crossroads assists refugees and asylum seekers from various nationalities, helping over 125 people in the past year alone. With ongoing challenges such as housing, benefits access, and language barriers, the hub works alongside partners like Refugee Assist and CHAWREC to offer practical support and a sense of community.

Through its varied initiatives, Crossroads Community Hub continues to serve individuals and families in Chester, providing food, friendship, and hope to those facing hardship​.

The new funding from the Severn Trent Community Fund, which awards grant money to improve the three elements of community wellbeing - people, places and environment - means our Debt Advisor and Empowerment Worker is available for 2 extra days a week offering Debt Advice & Budgeting Support.

Andy Glover, Minister of Hoole Baptist Church and one of the Directors of the CC Hub CIC, says:

“We’re delighted that the Severn Trent Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. We’re thankful to the Severn Trent Customer Panel for selecting us for funding so that we’ll be able to extend the hours of our Debt Advice and Empowerment Worker.  This is important because during our pilot scheme and our findings from these past 6 months, it’s clear that there is a substantial need for expanded debt advice services across Chester.

Jade Gough, Severn Trent Community Fund officer, added: “Crossroads Community Hub carries out fantastic work that is very much needed in the current climate with people struggling and looking for support and advice.

“We are thrilled that this funding will be used to make sure that their Debt Advisor and Empowerment Worker is available for more days and will be able to help more people in Chester.”