A SWINDON centre that shelters the homeless and gives them a chance to turn their lives around is to be given a makeover by a team of volunteers.

Staff at the Nationwide Building Society have helped to spruce up several community schemes in the town and now they are turning their attention to Booth House, which provides accommodation and practical support to help people escape the cycle of homelessness.

The clean-up on May 9 comes just in time for the centre’s 10th anniversary and ushers in a new era for the building in Spring Close.

From this July it will also be used as a base for the Salvation Army’s in-house Employment Plus service, providing help to job seekers throughout Swindon.

Service manager Elizabeth Osborne said: “Nationwide have been hugely supportive of Booth House for many years. Their staff have worked closely with us on a number of really positive initiatives including the Emerging Talents Programme working with Recycles.

“Nationwide’s team of staff volunteers are always willing to give us a hand with anything, which is why we’re so grateful that they’re helping us look spick and span in time for Booth House’s 10th anniversary celebrations and the launch of our Employment Plus service.”

She added: “We’re also really grateful to Homebase and Dobbies Garden Centre for donating so many of the plants and materials for our new and improved garden and exterior.”

Apprentice training consultant at Nationwide, Ella Greenwood, said: “My team wanted to really give back to our community and Booth House work incredibly hard to help so many individuals.

“When we visited Booth House it became very clear how important the garden is to the residents. We wanted to improve this space for them because it holds so much value.

“Fundraising and planning this has been great fun and we’re very proud to have been involved with Booth House. We will definitely keep in touch and are more than happy to help them in any way we can in the future.”

As well as offering accommodation the building is home to two social enterprises – Recycles, which sells reconditioned bikes and the Sandwich People, a catering service. Both are run by users of the lifehouse programme and volunteers with the help of qualified staff.

Lifehouse offers practical help, learning and development skills to people in difficulty and helps them re-settle.