Vee’s Place is a community initiative that works to bring the community closer together through a range of innovative projects.

Location: Prescot, Merseyside

Prescot is in a borough listed in the top two most deprived areas in the UK and major cutbacks for public services have resulted in multiple hardships for the community.

Vee’s Place attracted 300 adult members within six months of opening its doors.
The centre is ran from a refurbished church building to create a space for the whole community to use and costs are kept low to allow access to people from all walks of life to use the centre.

Vee’s Place offers health and fitness sessions, such as yoga, courses in healthy eating and music, social and occupational therapy through regular knitting, sewing and up-cycling gatherings, including a weekly sing-along sessions for dementia sufferers. Residents can get advice on how to be more energy efficient and can access a weekly food bank.

The centre also offers IT training for local residents, can attend a job club to support employment opportunities and training, including options for young people through the Princes Trust.

Vee’s Place has won numerous awards for innovation and special achievement against all odds, including the Prime Minister’s Points of Light Award in 2018.

Mike, a service user at Vee’s Place, said:

If it wasn’t for Vee’s Place, I am not sure where I would be by now. The centre has kept me going through the hardest of times both economically helping me to save money and through its discount food shop. Every time I call into Vee’s Place, I find a friendly face always there to listen and to provide me with advice and support or signposting over a cup of tea. It is a vital lifeline in the community without it many people like myself would both young and old would be unable to cope.