The Pilgrims Heart Trust, a Warfield-based charity offering help to those sleeping rough and the socially excluded, has been awarded thousands of pounds to continue a new arts project at their new drop-in centre.

‘Revival@Bracknell Drop-in’ received £9,678 from Awards for All, part of the Big Lottery Fund, meaning it can continue to pay for weekly arts workshops including music, drama, poetry, video, film and writing.

The director of the trust, Elaine Chalmers-Brown, says homelessness has increased dramatically in Bracknell during the past five years and with it the need to provide places for people in trouble to go. She said: “Our creative arts workshops will help them regain their self-esteem and get the help they need to re-build their lives as they learn new creative skills or rediscover a creative talent they had abandoned. They will then have the confidence to take the first step out of poverty and into employment.” A new drop-in centre opened in June 2014 in response to the growing need in Bracknell, and it now runs bi-weekly sessions at St Andrews Church in Priestwood Road on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am-2pm.

It is the only centre of its kind in the town and offers the homeless mentoring to help them get their lives back on track.

Mrs Chalmers-Brown said: “Homeless people we have mentored at the drop-in have told us how low self-esteem and lack of motivation have become barriers to them.

“They have multiple barriers to employment because of drug and alcohol addiction or mental health issues.

“They have lost hope that they can ever turn their lives around, find a home and employment.

“They need access to mentoring and training which will motivate them, inspire their creativity, give them a sense of self-worth and make them job ready or encourage them to train for a vocation.

“Our creative workshops will provide exactly what they need and the grant from “Awards for All” will make very big difference to the lives of many local people.” The Pilgrims Heart Trust is a Christian charity which uses the arts to help people often socially excluded.