A charity has been forced to close a cafe that helped homeless people turn their lives around.
Crisis has confirmed its cafe in Newcastle city centre has shut after it couldn't find alternative proposals to save it after a consultation.
The facility on City Road helps people move on from homelessness with training and job opportunities but saw a reduction in spending and footfall.
Sarah Farquhar, director of organisational development, said it was a 'hard decision'.
She said: “The café has supported people to move on from homelessness and rebuild their lives with training opportunities and help to build their skills.
"It was run by our wonderful staff and supported by our loyal community of customers, to whom we are hugely grateful.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to find an alternative proposal that would mitigate the reduction in spending and footfall in the café and we therefore have to take the hard decision to close the café.
"We want to thank our staff for engaging in this process and helping so many people to move on from homelessness. We will be supporting our staff to find new roles.
"We will also ensure that our clients continue to receive the support they need to leave homelessness behind for good through our Newcastle Skylight service.
“On behalf of Crisis Newcastle, we would like to thank the local community for their ongoing support.”
The Crisis cafe training programme is an opportunity for people that are experiencing homeless to gain customer service, barista training and professional cooking skills in a real working kitchen and cafe environment.
ChronicleLive previously spoke to staff who had benefited from the facility after becoming homeless.
Chantelle Fitzpatrick was 18 when she was evicted from a flat in North Shields and found herself without anywhere to live.
"Luckily it didn't last long because I was in the care system so I had a social worker," she said.
After getting in touch with Crisis and getting a job at the cafe, she managed to work her way up and is now a supervisor."
She added: "This place isn't just a cafe to people, it's a safe place."
