Charity with celebrity patrons needs public votes to win funding for Annabelle Davis Centre in Wisbech

A project that could see a new centre for families in need set up in Wisbech desperately needs public support to win vital funding.

The Young People's Counselling Service (YPCS) wants to establish an Annabelle Davis Centre at St Peter's Lodge and is currently in the running to win £100,000 of funding from Persimmon Homes, which is running a public vote to decide where the money goes.

YPCS is a charity which has provided free counselling for young people for over 25 years. Now it wants to branch out an set up "family resiliency centres" to help families before they hit a crisis point.

The Annabelle Davis Centres are named after the actress daughter of Star Wars actor Warwick Davis, who stars in the CBBC's The Dumping Ground.

Warwick and Annabelle are both patrons of the project which is set to open its first centre in Yaxley shortly. It is hoped to open the Wisbech centre next year.

The centres will be safe places where people can get assistance with a wide range of issues that adversely affect families in the heart of their local community. This includes mental health support, the threat of homelessness, financial difficulties, substance abuse or a lack of opportunities.

Each centre will have a unique offering of services, specific to the community it serves. Partner organisations such as local authorities, police, charities and other service providers will occupy the space alongside the YPCS team, sharing integrated case management software to help avoid users having to repeat their information and to prevent the abdication of responsibility.

YPCS believes the key to success will be an integrated and collective approach to finding solutions.

Nicola Houghton, who is a trustee of YPCS and school business manager at St Peter's School in Wisbech, said:"To give us the clinical and strategic credibility required for a project of this scale we have assembled a team of experts from the medical profession, educational field, voluntary sector and business world. All of our board members are volunteers. "

Persimmon Homes are already paying for a complete overall of the Yaxley site but to win the company's £100,000 of funding to further develop it and the Wisbech centre the YPCS needs public support.

Nicola said: "The competition is entirely dependent on public votes, people can vote every day between now and the end of September. You don’t need to enter any personal information, just follow the link and click vote. It takes five seconds.

"If individuals or businesses would like to contribute towards our charity's aims, they can do so through our website www.ypcs.uk. Our core service of free counselling costs £400 for each child we support, therefore we are always incredibly grateful for donations to ensure our waiting list is kept as short as possible."

To vote visit: https://www.persimmonhomes.com/building-futures/finalist/the-young-people-s-counselling-service-3122