Hollywood and TV stars perform opening ceremony at new well-being centre in Wisbech
It's not often Hollywood comes to Wisbech but on Saturday Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis was in town for the official opening of a new well-being centre.
Named after Warwick's actress daughter Annabelle Davis, star of television programmes that include the CBBC's The Dumping Ground, the Annabelle Davis Centre at St Peter's Lodge is the realisation of a dream of a small Cambridgeshire charity dedicated to the well-being of young people and their families.
It was back in September 2019 that the Young People’s Counselling Service (YPCS) announced its ambitions of opening the centre in Wisbech and on Saturday patrons, trustees and supporters were welcomed to have a look round and celebrate the centre's open day.
YPCS is a charity, which has provided free counselling for young people for over 25 years now its new “family resiliency centre” is there to help families in the Fenland area before they hit a crisis point.
Warwick and Annabelle, who are both from Yaxley, are both patrons of the project, which opened its first centre in their home village in 2019.
With the generous support of more than twenty local businesses and donors who provided materials, services, and their time, YPCS were able to open the doors to the Wisbech Annabelle Davis Centre in October 2021 and have already been taking referrals from North Brink GP practice and local secondary schools, providing counselling sessions to young people of the area.
With three therapy rooms and two meeting spaces available to rent to organisations that work with young people, they have recently welcomed Centre 33 and The Kite Trust, who run their services from the centre.
Samantha Ronnay the business support lead based at YPCS Wisbech said: “We deeply appreciate the support shown to us on Saturday from everyone who came.
"The open day may have been a long time coming, but it was a lovely day and it was fantastic that everyone could get together and celebrate this fabulous new facility in the centre of Wisbech.
"It was lovely to have both Annabelle and Warwick there, they have been very supportive of our charity and Annabelle is the perfect ambassador because of the role she played in The Dumping Ground, which highlighted issues faced by young people."
For further details of the centre or if you would like to support YPCS, please email admin@ypcs.uk.
Sponsors and supporters include: St Peter’s Parochial Church Council; Alan Houghton; AMR Group; B andQ; Bourne Carpets and Flooring Ltd; Brewers Decorator Centres; Buildbase; Eastern Frames; Excel Engineering UK Ltd; Grandline Plastering; Howsafe; JBE Services Ltd; Milner Decorators; Nick Barker Construction UK Ltd; Screwfix Foundation; Swann Edwards Architects; Town Red Decorating Ltd; WE Consulting Engineers; Westbrook Window Repairs; The Evelyn Trust; The Hudson Foundation; The Strangward Trust.
