Signpost Centres Under Threat

Signposts

Active Member
Some of you may know about the problems we face at The Signpost Centre.

Our funding has been slashed and we are due to have to close the doors for good in about 3 weeks unless an alternative source of funding can be found.

Recently we talked to Stafford FM about our work and our funding problems.

If any of you do not know of the work we do in the community, or the services on offer, you can visit our website or our facebook page.

We are currently also running an online petition to convince the local authority to review their decision to cut funding. We'd really appreciate if you could sign it.

If the centres close, the local community will lose our free vital services such as the internet cafe, public telephone, food bank, a place to meet, and not to mention the drop in sessions and courses which we hold regularly. Infact, the number of people we helped with various social issues doubled in the last two months of last year.

If you feel you can contribute in any way, please drop in or call the Highfields centre on 01785 223860. Maybe you are willing to trade a square inch of web space with us, so that we can get our message out, or make a small donation financially or in material items such as packs of A4 paper for our printers, or perhaps some tinned or packet items for our food bank. For every item we dont have to buy in, the money can be used elsewhere and keep the doors open for as long as possible.

Many thanks for reading


 

WhiteBakeCase

Well-Known Forumite
is that cryptic, or a hint?

we've contacted a few people to talk about a 'celebrity' attendance to raise publicity, so far we've had no reply, not even an acknowledgement, from Neil Morrissey, Dave Gorman, and Russell Brand, the latter being understandably less obtainable than the others. I was hoping that those who originated from our town might have had some interest but seems not.
 

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
Interesting that places such as the signpost centre only register on here for help when they are about to be shut down, yet never think to register on here and promote themselves in advance....

Not having a dig, "just sayin" as the yoofs apparently say.
 

cometcycle

Well-Known Forumite
Interesting that places such as the signpost centre only register on here for help when they are about to be shut down, yet never think to register on here and promote themselves in advance....

Not having a dig, "just sayin" as the yoofs apparently say.
I'm guessing Forums in general aren't as popular as they once were. Maybe they only get suggested via word of mouth when situations needing to reach the widest possible audience arise?
 

Lunar Scorpion

Anarchy in the UK
Maybe you could have a list of ALL the stuff you need, then if people have anything they can get in touch? Unfortunately I use all my paper and food myself, but I have some stuff in my garage, including stationery items, that may be useful - I'm not going to offer it if I don't know you need it though... =)
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
is that cryptic, or a hint?

we've contacted a few people to talk about a 'celebrity' attendance to raise publicity, so far we've had no reply, not even an acknowledgement, from Neil Morrissey, Dave Gorman, and Russell Brand, the latter being understandably less obtainable than the others. I was hoping that those who originated from our town might have had some interest but seems not.
Russell Brands from Stafford?! :raise:
 

WhiteBakeCase

Well-Known Forumite
No, but his background is similar to those of some of the people who walk through the door at the centres in need of help so in that sense I tried to appeal more to his circumstances rather than locality. The first two were locals though. In hindsight it seems a bit extreme but in the heat of the moment when jobs are at risk and the bills are barely being paid from a donations tin it was all hands on deck for a moment.
Yes Signposts registered here under my own recommendation after their online presence had fallen a bit lax. As a long-term volunteer and IT bod, I suggested it might be worthwhile to reach out online a little more so we drafted a generic appeal and hit the forums.
Anyhow money is still tight but the doors are still open, although we've had to sacrifice Friday opening in favour of paid room rental for the time being. There was a sum received from SBC after we petitioned but it was considerably smaller than previous years.
Theres a fund raising event this Saturday the 5th from 11-3, the annual fun day and 7th birthday celebration so it would be great to see you there.
 

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