One of Preston’s main charities helping rough sleepers in the city has been forced to close its headquarters due to crumbly concrete.

The Foxton Centre’s youth and community centre in Knowsley Street, Avenham has been closed off following structural surveys found the presence of RAAC (Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete) in roof panels.

The youth centre, which was built in 1969, has roof panels which are ‘presenting a danger of collapse’ according to the charity.

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The Foxton’s services at Fox Street Day Centre, the womens centre in New Hall Lane and the emergency homeless shelters across the city all remain open and operating.

The Avenham centre was due to be demolished later this year after the charity were successful in securing funds to rebuild the centre.

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Foxton chief executive Jeff Marsh said: “We have £2.2 million to build a state of the art centre for the local community in Avenham and can’t wait to get started.

“We have already identified alternative premises for our youth clubs and community groups which will be available from early October this year and will be announcing details of these once the final
details are dealt with.

“We are speaking to the young people who use the centre and other community members about
what will happen for the few weeks until our temporary building is available. We will make
announcements via our Facebook page.

“It’s sad that we can’t say a proper goodbye to our home of the last 50 years as we had a
number of events planned to celebrate its history. However, we can look to a bright future with our new build.”

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