A Macclesfield charity is gearing up to celebrate 15 years of serving the local community.

The Hope Centre on Park Green was started in 2011 as part of the Hope in North East Cheshire Christian group.

Initially opened as a Christian bookshop and café, the charity has evolved over the years.

Bob Boland, chair of trustees, said: "I've been looking back over 15 years at what we've achieved, and it's actually changing the lives of people.

"People who are from different backgrounds, different cultures, maybe recovering addicts, maybe people with mental health issues.

"It's a safe space where people can come and feel that they're with friends and people who aren't going to judge them. We create opportunities for those people to recover and then go into full-time or part-time employment.

"We're here to serve and help others who are on the fringes of society."

The Hope Centre celebrates its 15th anniversary on June 20 (Credit: Hannah Cochrane)

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Over the past two years, the Hope Centre has focused on helping homeless people in the town, enabling Macclesfield to 'produce a coordinated approach and a more structured approach' to their needs.

Manager Ruth Corn said: "As we've started to look at photographs over the past 15 years, you can see the way that the charity has adapted to what the community's needed, and the celebration will allow us to celebrate all those changes.

"We've gathered data on individuals' lives that have been changed so that we can celebrate that and put it down to mark a point of 15 years of great work in the community."

The 15th anniversary of the Hope Centre will take place at Tytherington Family Worship Church on June 20, featuring food, music, a gathering of volunteers and previous managers, followed by a service of thanksgiving.

As well as their café and bookshop, the Hope Centre holds training courses, such as cooking skills, front-of-house training and digital training for elderly people.

"We've got lots of people who've gone from here who are now happily in full-time employment as a result of the opportunity we have given them," Bob explained.

"What is clear to us is that there is an increasing need. If you look at society at the moment and read the news, it's all about unemployment and what we want to do is try and provide an opportunity for training."

The Hope Centre started out as a Christian bookshop and café in 2011 (Credit: Hannah Cochrane)

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Regular events in the café include board games meetings, creative colouring and knitting for other charities. The Hope Centre also runs a weekly Dementia Music Cafe, a Tinnitus Support Group, Women's Turnaround, and Making Space meetings.

One of the Hope Centre's 'greatest achievements' was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"During COVID, we obviously had to shut. However, that was probably one of the greatest achievements because we had a group who were two recovering addicts and a manager who prepared food," Bob said.

"Over 10,000 hot meals were prepared, which were sent out into the community where the people were in hostels, for example.

"And because people were stuck at home, we started a telephone listening service, so that anybody who was lonely could phone in and chat. So even during COVID, we were helping."