Berkshire charity faces eviction as council plans site redevelopment

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 5 Nov, 20:10 · Archive

The Cowshed, a Berkshire charity supporting people in crisis, faces eviction from its Wokingham premises to make way for affordable housing.

The Cowshed faces eviction from its Wokingham base under Wokingham Borough Council's plans to develop Mulberry Business Park with more than 100 affordable and specialist homes. The charity, which occupies a 17,000 sq ft premises on the council-owned site, provides clothing, bedding, household goods and baby equipment to people facing hardship, including those fleeing domestic abuse, leaving prison or at risk of eviction.

Founder and chief executive Sally Russell said the organisation had always understood its tenancy would be temporary but had grown considerably since moving in and now functioned as a community hub. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the charity had been searching for new premises but finding somewhere suitable was difficult.

Russell said: 'We've got 400 volunteers and so we've been looking, but finding a building that is free and 17,000 square feet in Berkshire that is going to give us the same deal as we have at the moment is verging on impossible. We don't have money to pay commercial rent. We're a charity.'

How it is being reported

• Berkshire charity says its 'virtually impossible' to find a new homeA Berkshire charity supporting people in crisis says finding a new home is “verging on impossible” as it faces having to leave its Wokingham base under council redevelopment plans.Bracknell News · 5 Nov, 19:00
• Berkshire charity says its 'virtually impossible' to find a new homeA Berkshire charity supporting people in crisis says finding a new home is “verging on impossible” as it faces having to leave its Wokingham base under council redevelopment plans.Reading Chronicle · 5 Nov, 19:00

In this story: The Cowshed · Wokingham Borough Council · Sally Russell · Mulberry Business Park · Wokingham · Berkshire

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