St Hugh’s Hospital in Grimsby is celebrating its 25-year partnership with Harbour Place – a homeless charity in the town through which it has provided regular hot meals for people for a quarter of a century.

Since 1995 the kitchen staff at St Hugh’s Hospital have been making meals to feed Grimsby’s most vulnerable and homeless people.

Throughout the coronavirus outbreak they have maintained this vital service by preparing meals for around 30 people in their kitchen before delivering them to the charity each Monday.

Harbour Place was set up 25 years ago as a day centre for homeless people and it launched the first night centre facility in Grimsby two years ago at its premises on Hope Street, providing overnight accommodation and an outreach service.

Dave Carlile is the Project Manager and Rough Sleeper Coordinator at Harbour Place. During a recent socially distanced visit to St Hugh’s Hospital, Dave met with the kitchen staff who make the meals each week to thank them for their continued support during these difficult times.

Dave said: “The support that St Hugh’s have provided over the years has been invaluable. They’ve provided a helping hand when there has been very little help available, and they’ve also continued to provide a meal regularly for some of the most vulnerable people that we work with.

“A hot home-cooked meal is something which many of our service users don’t get to taste that often.”

Ashley Brown, Hospital Director at St Hugh’s, said: “Working with Harbour Place is extremely important to us at St Hugh’s as it’s all part of our mission to support people in the wider community we work in. Harbour Place and its volunteers have consistently provided an outstanding service to Grimsby for decades.

“Like many charities, it is facing financial as well as operational difficulties because of social distancing regulations.

“We’ve built a long-lasting relationship with the charity and intend to support the great work they do not only throughout the pandemic but also for many years to come.”

Harbour Place works with any homeless person living on the street, in temporary shelters or in emergency accommodation in Grimsby, providing ad hoc food during the day, evening meals and overnight shelter for up to 15 people each evening, 365 days a year.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic the night centre on Hope Street has had to close, but thanks to the support of organisations such as St Hugh’s, the charity is still able to provide meals and its rough sleeper street outreach services throughout the day.

Dave added: “During the winter, we expect to see a surge in demand for our night shelter services – and our main dormitory which usually accommodates up to 15 people is not currently available to use because it doesn’t meet social distancing restrictions.

“We hope to be able to secure some financial support so that we can divide up the dormitory and accommodate up to eight service users again each evening.”

To find out more about Harbour Place and how to support their work, visit the website or follow the charity on Twitter.

To find out more about St Hugh’s Hospital and the specialist service it provides to both private and NHS patients, visit the website or call 01472 251100.