A CENTRE in Grimsby which helps people with chronic respiratory diseases has been awarded £10,000 by the National Lottery.
The Hope Specialist Falls And Respiratory Service centre in Hope Street has received the funding in order to put together a five-year business plan to develop the charity.
The money will be used to fund the consultations that are necessary to produce the business plan, which could lead to the charity accessing bigger grants.
People who suffer falls and/or have respiratory problems use the centre, which first launched ten years ago.
Sylvia Leary, chairman of the charity, said the centre had now outgrown its current site due to high levels of demand.
She said: "We now feel at a crossroads because we need a lot more room for our staff and patients.
"We have 96 active volunteers and it just feels as if we are bursting at the seams at the moment.
"We are going to use the money to have lots of consultations and to develop new activities for our patients here.
"The consultation will take more than a year and we will listen to what local people want and also find out what is doable. It is a very exciting time for us."
Sylvia said there was a possibility that the centre could move to a different site in order to accommodate the increase in the number of its staff and patients.
Since The Hope Specialist Falls And Respiratory Service launched in 2005, it has raised more than £100,000.
Sylvia added: "I want to be a part of this for the rest of my working life.
"I class myself as very fortunate that I work here."
Claire Wollington, of Synergy Grimsby CIC – an organisation which helps local groups access lottery funding – is helping to put the five-year business plan together.
She said: "We need to work out what actions need to happen over the next five years to expand and promote what they are doing and what they can offer for the wider community.
"We help them apply for the money that is available – it is all about leaving a legacy for the people who will use the centre in the future."
Betty Browne, trustee and former patient at the charity, said she was referred to the centre after she suffered from respiratory problems herself.
She said: "After I became unwell, they helped me to get my breath back and now I have been volunteering here for around four years now.
"It's absolutely wonderful that we've been given the money and everyone here is so kind and helpful."
Jim Finney works as a "buddy" at the centre – someone who has previously suffered with falls or respiratory problems and helps assist the patients.
He said: "If the money helps to expand this then it will all be worthwhile.
"We have outgrown ourselves here."
