Housing staff help give Vee’s Place a makeover

A community club is celebrating after a major renovation of its base in Prescot, with help from housing staff.

A group of nine Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT) and Travis Perkins staff volunteered their time to carry out renovations at Zion Church Hall to create a new hub for Vee’s Place, a group which provides a range of activities and support for young and old. 

(L-R) Greg Peterson, Marty Mather, Verity ‘Vee’ Rhodes, Chris Manion and Jyoti Amin

They carried out repairs including painting, plumbing, and putting up shelves. KHT’s partner material supplier Travis Perkins provided all the material for the work for free and one of their staff helped on the day.

The group was set up by Verity ‘Vee’ Rhodes, who has carried out many repairs to the church herself. But this renovation would have taken her weeks or even months to complete on her own and with the volunteers’ help the club can re-open immediately.

Vee said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with KHT, and I’m very grateful for their help. We run a valuable service here for the community and now we have more time to help even more people, with the renovation being finished so soon.”

Vee’s Place was set up in 2001 when Vee retired and she decided to start a group as therapy for her depression.

The club, formally known as Prescot Leisure Centre Activities Club, was previously based in Whiston, before relocating to Prescot two years ago.

It provides a whole host of activities, information, opportunities and training for the communities in Knowsley and St Helens, with members from age 10 to 110.

There are bingo nights and quizzes, a mini-gym, an IT suite, youth club and rock band, and workshops aimed at providing employment and training to young people.

Russell Thompson, Executive Director of Maintenance Services at KHT, said: “Vee’s Place has become an important community hub. If it had to close for renovations a lot of people would have been cut off from a vital lifeline.

“Vee is an incredible lady and we couldn’t believe she was trying to complete all these repairs herself. We had to help out.

“KHT is more than just a landlord; we have a wider social responsibility that we take very seriously, to create thriving, integrated neighbourhoods with communal respect and understanding.”

The club brings together young and old to swap skills and share knowledge and has also gained a reputation for the support it offers to people living with a variety of forms of depression.

Vee added: “I feel that the club really fills a gap, taking a different approach to helping members of the community – to get into work or training, or just providing a place where people can get together and have fun.”