A TOWN centre homeless shelter battling to keep its doors open has been boosted after being told a vital £3,000-a-month grant will be extended for another year.

The funding – which Labour-run Warrington Borough Council provides to Room at the Inn (RATI), on Winmarleigh Street – was due to remain in place until this May when the all-out elections were scheduled to go ahead.

But they have been postponed for one year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Council leader Cllr Russ Bowden has now confirmed the funding will continue until May next year.

He said “We are facing a significant national public health situation with coronavirus, Covid-19.

“Our advice from Government is developing rapidly but we know that we have to protect our residents, especially the most vulnerable, in the coming weeks and months.

“That includes the homeless, many of whom have underlying health issues and are vulnerable at this time.

“When I became leader in 2018, I committed the council’s financial support to RATI until the local elections in May 2020.

Warrington Guardian:

Cllr Russ Bowden

“Given that Government has deferred those elections until next year, then it is only right that I now extend my commitment to May 2021.

“This will give RATI the financial stability that it needs in the months ahead, allowing it to focus on delivering support to its users.”

The shelter says it costs £400 per day to run its site – which includes food, staffing and insurance costs.

Centre manager Susan Blyth labelled the funding announcement from Cllr Bowden as fantastic.

She said: “We needed some good news in these difficult times – it is ray of hope.

“Our demand, day and night, is going up.

“We just can’t cope with the volume of people and have had to put a new strategy in place.”

Susan also confirmed a multi-agency meeting has taken place to look at procedures in the scenario where a service user may need to self-isolate if they contract coronavirus.

Furthermore, she thanked residents for their generosity through donations during the challenging period amid the pandemic.

“It is a positive in hard times – this will test us all in an unprecedented way,” she added.