Eastbourne Christian charity prepares to move and reveals changes to homeless shelter

The Kingdom Way Trust is preparing to move to a site currently used as the Eastbourne Christian Resource Centre (ECR) bookshop in Seaside Road.

There are currently weekday centres run by Matthew25 (at The Brodie Hall in Seaside Road) and the Salvation Army (at The Rebourne Corner in Langney Road).

The pre-covid location for the trust’s weekend sessions is no longer available so has been looking elsewhere to restart the drop-ins as the weather deteriorates.

The resource centre is closing its bookshop in January and the trust will move in the following month.

Bob Clark, chair of the ECR trustees, said, “We are excited to be able to ‘hand on the baton’ to Kingdom Way Trust, in the progression of Christian ministry from the Christian Resource Centre premises, after so many fruitful years.

“Their vision for building God’s Kingdom is the same as ours - one life at a time.”

The trust is still hoping to find a temporary location for the weekend drop-ins until the new site opens in February.

As well as this change, a spokesperson for the trust said many people have been asking about the Winter Night Shelter.

The spokesperson said, “Whilst on the advice of Public Health and Homeless Link they are not recommended, it appears that there will be a need for some type of emergency accommodation again this year.

“The single rooms provided by the council for rough sleepers last winter have remained available throughout the year. However, the eligibility to access them has now changed. Those who are rough sleeping who don’t have a local connection or have been evicted from previous accommodation or are from another country are unlikely to be housed.

“We are in contact with the council, Rough Sleepers Initiative and other groups to discuss a feasible alternative which we will communicate as soon as we have more details.”