WSC centre supports two community projects in Sudbury

The West Suffolk College Business and Community centre in Sudbury is offering a cosy place to relax and free coffee to local residents. The training centre situated on Cornard Road has teamed up with the Rural Coffee Caravan as part of an initiative called ‘Warm Spaces’. The scheme states that ‘as rising costs cause concerns about staying warm this winter, pubs, libraries, village halls and community spaces are offering free warm spaces’.

Head of the business and community centre in Sudbury is Clare Morgan. Clare said: “We take the word of community in our title very seriously. As part of this, we felt an obligation to create a local offer for residents to come and enjoy a free coffee, read a book, use our Wi-Fi and use our facilities during the cold winter months in a safe and non-judgmental way. “We will also be talking to people who take advantage of the warm spaces initiative about some of our services as many of the courses we offer are free.”

The ‘warm spaces’ sessions began at the start of November and they will end March 2023. In Sudbury, they take place every Wednesday and Thursday between 1.30 and 4pm. West Suffolk Colleges’ sister sites in Haverhill, Ipswich and Thetford will also be offering warms spaces.

In addition to warm spaces, the Sudbury centre has also teamed up with an organisation called The Bridge Project is a local charity who helps adults with learning disabilities. Students from The Bridge Project have been participating in our arts and crafts courses, making products that can be sold in the charities local shop. Most recently they have created items using silk from Sudbury based Stephen Walters.

In addition to this The Bridge Project also provides catering for the local football club (Sudbury AFC) so students have also been gaining new skills on catering courses.Clare continued: “So far we have supported around 18 students over a period of around 12 weeks and my message to other businesses about working with us is that we are here for you, come and speak to us.” Jenny Burge – a tutor from The Bridge Project – said: “Our students have been involved in progression courses and it’s been great. The variety of courses helps our learners and we are hopeful that this partnership will continue.”