A KNUTSFORD charity can look to the future thanks to a welcome £25,000 cash injection.

Cheshire East Council has given a £25,000 boost to The Welcome, on Longridge, a move which has a received the backing of Tatton MP George Osborne and Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire David Briggs.

The Welcome community centre serves the Longridge and Shaw Heath estates, offering a range if facilities, including a cafe, youth centre and jobs club for the unemployed.

The centre needs £30,000 a year to meet its core costs and expand its projects and this donation will help towards keeping the charity afloat.

Marie Fox, operations manager at The Welcome, said: “This contribution from Cheshire East will play a vital part in helping us to move forward and without it we would be really struggling now.

“The money will make a massive difference to us and we can’t thank Cheshire East Council enough for it.”

George Osborne recently attended a fundraising event at the home of Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire David Briggs and his wife Michelle in support of the Welcome.

He said: “The Welcome is a fantastic organisation that I have had the privilege to work with as the local MP. I cannot praise its volunteers and trustees highly enough.

“I am determined that we must not only keep it going but get it the resources it needs to help even more Knutsford families. I have been calling on local businesses to offer work opportunities to jobseekers from The Welcome’s jobs club and am joining David Briggs to call on local people to raise much-needed funds for this precious local resource.”

The Welcome has plans to employ a new staff member to expand its life-skills and nutrition training to dads as well as mums. It aims to put 60 people through its support course in the next year.

Mr Briggs said: “The Welcome could help a lot more families with more resources. It has just two full-time staff and 25 volunteers and, despite the hugely-appreciated help, without a further injection of funds, The Welcome will not be able to do what it does now – indeed it would probably have to close.

“The Welcome is ready to expand and greatly improve the kitchen, supercharge their embryonic youth club and offer a modern eight-computer facility with training support.

“Without computer skills and online access, people can’t apply for a job, let alone operate in a job, so it is crucial to offer this support.”