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OUR MISSION: To deliver the highest quality construction-based vocational training and support to enable young people and adults to gain skills, qualifications and confidence to enhance their full potential and build a positive future. Preston Vocational Centre (PVC) is a registered charity providing vocational education, training and support to young people across Lancashire. We work with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, including many who have experienced challenges in mainstream education or face barriers to employment and further learning. For over 17 years, we have helped more than 7,200 learners develop practical skills, gain qualifications and build the confidence needed to progress into apprenticeships, employment and further education. Our programmes include Bricklaying, Plastering, Joinery and Carpentry, Painting and Decorating, Plumbing, and Construction Health and Safety. Our training is delivered through hands-on, practical learning in a supportive environment that promotes personal growth, resilience, teamwork and positive outcomes. As a charity, we greatly benefit from donations of surplus building materials, tools, fixtures, fittings and consumables. Items such as timber, paint, hardware, fixings, decorating supplies, plumbing materials and general DIY products can be used directly within our workshops and student projects. These donations provide learners with valuable real-world experience while helping reduce waste and ensuring we can continue to offer high-quality training opportunities to those who need them most. By supporting PVC, you are helping local people gain the skills, confidence and opportunities needed to build a positive future.

It’s important to note the Centre is open for essential services, providing information, advice, guidance services. 1-2-1 support, food and crisis support. Safety measures and social distancing is in place Monday: 1-2-1 support, employability support, food crisis service and advice and guidance drop in. Whitby's Homemade (Nutritious, tasty, homemade meals). Tuesday: Whitby’s Pantry is running by appointment only. 9am – 3pm (last appointment).. 1-2-1 support, employability support, food crisis service and advice and guidance drop in. Whitby's Homemade (Nutritious, tasty, homemade meals). Wednesday – Whitby’s Pantry is running by appointment only 9am – 3pm (last appointment). 1-2-1 support, employability support, food crisis service and advice and guidance drop in. Whitby's Homemade (Nutritious, tasty, homemade meals). Thursday: The Centre is closed but our staff are working from home, you can still contact us on 01772 760 760 or email us at info@intact-preston.org.uk and a member of our team will still be able to help you with your enquiry. Friday: 1-2-1 support, employability support, food crisis service and advice and guidance drop in. An online, telephone and email service has been provided - contact information including info@intact-preston.org.uk has been distributed via Facebook, Mail-Chimp, Next Door, PCC. Deb, our Centre Support and Advice Officer is the main point of contact and dealing with queries online. We can also be reached on Facebook messenger via our Facebook page. Other – We are part of the Community Food Hub now operating across Preston to distribute food parcels. Intact will help and support vulnerable residents throughout the current situation, working with a range of public and voluntary sector organisations working with local groups, external organisations and individuals. Mobile tablets have been donated including internet data. These are currently being distributed to some of our most vulnerable, socially isolated and shielded, service users who can’t afford the internet. Employability We are still delivering out Changing Futures and Invest in Youth programmes albeit on a reduced service. However, we are looking at ways to develop employability services remotely. Online Services • We now have a dedicated Intact Community Facebook Group where you can join in with conversations, ask questions or share what matters to you with other members of the intact family. • Thrifty Kitchen is still cooking with the team now producing videos at home and sharing their knowledge via their own dedicated Facebook group and YouTube Channel. You can get recipes, ask questions, help others, share your creations and enjoy some foodie chat.

The British Red Cross is the single biggest provider of support to refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Fleeing your home and arriving in a new country is a traumatic experience. Our Refugee Service supports vulnerable refugee and asylum-seeking individuals and families as they settle into their new lives here in Lancashire. However, once they are here, many families who fled one extraordinary situation find themselves facing another: destitution. Our Preston Refugee Hub is open to refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants in the Preston area. We offer a welcome environment where service users can get a free hot meal in a social space. We are able to provide emergency provisions for those that are in destitute situations, as well as access to English language lessons and caseworkers who are able signpost vital information on health services, housing advice, faith organisations and local leisure facilities. Our overall aim is to support individuals and families with adapting to life in a new country. With the current humanitarian crisis across Europe and the Middle East, more families than ever before are approaching the Red Cross for help. This year alone, the number of people in need of our help has increased by a staggering 50%, which is only set to increase as more families arrive in Lancashire from Syria and other countries torn apart by conflict.