The show must go on! Peterborough charity determined not to let collapsed ceilings and flooding stop operations
A Peterborough charity is determined to continue offering all of its services despite its home being seriously damaged by flooding.
When torrential rain hit the city on Thursday (August 27), flash flooding was seen in several areas where. Among the worst affected areas was the Ortons and in particular the Ortongate Shopping Centre where many of the units were forced to close and even suffered damage.
This was sadly the case for the Goldhay Arts Centre, which saw substantial flooding right throughout its communal areas as well as with leaks from the roof which caused two ceilings in the building to collapse.
One above one of the toilets, another above the kitchen; which if it had collapsed just seconds earlier would have injured a member of staff. The ceiling above another of the centre’s toilets is still to wet for the facilities to be safely used.
The Goldhay Arts Centre is home to a whole variety of activities run by Goldhay Arts for adults with learning difficulties and sensory impairment. The charity supports members pursuing the performing and visual arts; hosting dance, drama, music and craft sessions, as well as a day service.
The show has gone on though as the charity has secured the use of a next door empty unit to continue to run their day service.
The charity are now waiting to hear back from insurance before work can begin on getting back into their home.
A spokesperson for the charity said: “Our main priority is our day service and out members. We want to keep them safe, so they are using Unit 28 at the moment.
"We have to wait until we have spoken to the owners of the centre and the insurance before we can do anything.
"It’s not just the ceilings fallen down, all of the electrics need replacing too. We still wouldn’t be able to use the day centre even if we cordoned all of the affected areas off because of the lack of toilets.
“We had just launched our supported employment scheme and we had members in the kitchen helping to make the lunches now, so to have this happen is really frustrating.”
One of the major projects that the charity is also hoping to raise funds for- alongside supporting its existing work- is a new minibus.
The bus would be used to pick up all visitors to the day centre, with the current arrangements involving a number of individual taxi journeys, as well as allowing for a range of trips to enrich the experience such as the art museums and exhibitions in London and across the country.
To find out more about Goldhay Arts, visit goldhayarts.co.uk.
To get in touch or to offer support in the fundraising efforts for the minibus, contact the charity on 01733 262442 or [email protected].