The Gateway Centre has been at the heart of community in Launceston since 2013.

As part of our offering, we provide free hot meals/drinks on a daily basis to the homeless, sofa surfing and jobless. We also run various FREE community clubs within the centre such as; Launceston Strollers, Pool club, Creative Writing group, Gardening club, Knit n Natter, Menopause Caff, Craft & Chat to name a few. All our clubs are diverse and inclusive.

With no other 'Day Centre' provision in North Cornwall, we welcome adults and young people with ASD and other disabilities into our clubs, groups and cafe to offer them choice, inclusivity and acceptance. Many support workers are able to bring their clients/residents to us for fun, laughter and friendship.

There are other groups and classes the community uses the centre for, such as; Community Money Advice Launceston, 'We Are With You', ILift Gym, Trina's Tots child daycare, Little Red Bus, Turning the Cogs, Army Cadets, Table Tennis and LYMT to name but a few.

Up until now, we have always relied on the users of the centre to help ensure that our bills have been paid and that we have been good stewards of our finances. Sadly, our fixed costs (e.g. energy bills) are projected to go up by £70k this financial year. As we look to extend the lease on the Gateway Centre (aka Madford House), we have been unable to apply for much needed funding to help support the activities that take place within the project. Once a new lease is signed, we will then be able to seek the necessary funding and continue to be a much needed support to many in our community. For this to happen, we need to urgently raise £40,000 to help keep the project viable for the next six months while we sign a new lease and seek funding.

We have set ourselves a target of two weeks to attempt to raise this money, otherwise we will have no choice but to shut the Gateway Centre at the end of April. We know that this will be a huge loss to the community and the groups who currently use the project.