Christopher Centre in Sudbury delighted to reinstate group support sessions for vulnerable people following coronavirus lockdown

The leader of a community hub in Sudbury says it has been a great relief to be able to provide vital support to vulnerable people following its highly-anticipated reopening.

The Christopher Centre in Gainsborough Street has been able to reinstate some of its key group sessions after resuming operations last week.

Teresa Bishop, who manages the resource centre, said it had been reassuring to offer a safe space for members to socialise once again.

“I’m immensely relieved,” she said. “While we were able to keep an eye on some people during the crisis, we couldn’t do that for everybody, so it’s lovely to see people coming back.”

Mrs Bishop said that, for some members, being deprived of social interaction for a prolonged period had proved extremely challenging.

“To have suddenly been in a situation where they had only their own company has been incredibly hard,” she said.

One person, who had not interacted with anyone for more than three months, was thankful for the social interaction.

“It was exciting for him just to be amongst people,” said Mrs Bishop, who highlighted that for some people, the time indoors had enabled them to hone some skills.

“In some cases, people have discovered they have new talents,” she added.

The centre will be hosting a new community market and car boot sale on Saturday, between 10am and 3pm, with a range of goods on offer.

Hoping the event will help bring people closer together, Mrs Bishop added: “We want to show that we are one community; we all need each other’s support as we have all lost out because of the lockdown.”