Marking our 25-year partnership with Harbour Place

We’re thrilled to announce that we recently reached a fantastic milestone; we’re celebrating our 25-year partnership with Harbour Place – a homelessness charity in Grimsby through which we have been providing food for people for a quarter of a century.

Since 1995, the staff in our kitchen department have been preparing and delivering food for rough sleepers.

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.

Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the night centre on Hope Street has sadly had to close. Thankfully, we’ve been able to continue preparing food in our kitchens and delivering it each Monday. This has allowed the charity to still provide essential meals and its rough sleeper street outreach services throughout the daytime during the pandemic.

Dave Carlile, who is the project manager and rough sleeper coordinator at Harbour Place, recently paid a socially distanced visit to St Hugh’s Hospital to meet with our kitchen staff and 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. A hot home-cooked meal is something which many of our service users don’t get to taste that often.”

Our hospital director, Ashley Brown, 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.

During the winter, the charity expects to see a surge in demand for its night shelter services – and its main dormitory which usually accommodates up to 15 people, but is not currently available to use because it doesn’t meet social distancing restrictions.

Harbour Place hopes to be able to secure some financial support so that it can divide up the dormitory and accommodate up to eight service users again each evening.

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

We would like to remind patients that we are accepting both private and NHS patients to the hospital. If you have any questions about visiting the hospital, please call us on 01472 251100.