Community Action Norwich must widen a fire exit and replace a wheelchair ramp after a fire service review. Its appeal had £200 of £20,000 on 27 September.
A Lakenham charity that sees about 230 people a week has been told to widen its fire exit and replace its wheelchair ramp. The work will cost just under £20,000. Its public appeal had raised £200 when we checked on Sunday 27 September.
Community Action Norwich (CAN) runs from the New Hope Christian Centre, a building put up in 1935. The charity says on its JustGiving appeal that a recent safety review by Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service set out upgrades it must make to meet current regulations. Those include “an order to widen the fire exit and replace the wheelchair ramp”.
A local builder has priced the job. The charity puts the estimate at “just under £20,000”.
Why the building matters
CAN says the centre hosts most of its services. The charity’s own website lists them:
- the Hope Cafe and food bank
- a day centre for older people
- kids and youth groups
Its entry on the Charity Commission register describes a children’s weekly evening club, weekly youth clubs, a day centre with a lunch club, and a weekly cafe and warm space with free food and Wi-Fi. It also runs a food bank distribution centre and an advice centre.
The appeal says the main users are people from low-income households, children and young people, and older people. It warns that the charity faces “drastically reducing and/or temporally suspending many of our services” if the work is not done in time.
A big bill for a small charity
The register shows a charity of modest means. In the year to 31 March 2025 it had income of £91,438 and spent £87,608. It has five trustees and 40 volunteers, and no trustee is paid.
So the fire-exit bill is more than a fifth of a year’s income.
Income has moved around a lot. The register’s financial history gives total income of £145.50k in 2020-21, £61.19k in 2021-22, £74.22k in 2022-23, £103.99k in 2023-24 and £91.44k in 2024-25. Spending has fallen each year, from £121.89k to £87.61k, and has been close to income for the past three years. That leaves little room for an unplanned building job.
The most recent donations on the page include £25 gifts from individuals and a donation from New Hope Athletic FC, the centre’s Saturday football team.
What it means for you
- To give, the appeal is on JustGiving. The charity’s own site gives its address as 2 Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2HX, and its phone number as 01603 617771.
- To volunteer or to use its services, the charity has a contact form on its website for the day centre, the cafe and food bank, and the kids and youth groups.
- If you run a business or trust that funds community buildings, the charity is asking for contributions towards the full £20,000.
The appeal does not give a deadline for the work. Nor does it say what date the fire service set. We will report when the target is reached or the work goes ahead.
Other Norwich grant-makers support buildings like this one. The Geoffrey Watling Charity, which we covered this week, gave a recent grant for rewiring at Sewell Barn Theatre on Constitution Hill.
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