An emergency homeless hostel which has continued to operate throughout the coronavirus outbreak has been awarded a £5,000 grant.

Calderwood House secured the grant from the Vinci UK Foundation.

Rachel Holliday, founder of the hostel, said: “I had an unexpected phone call from Adrian Davis Johnston. He told me that the company he worked for, NUVIA, were looking for good causes to support during Covid-19 as part of the Vinci UK Foundation support.

“I explained we had an issue with our most vulnerable ex-residents who do not have internet in their homes, and some have no way of communicating with the outside world. We needed dongles, mobile phones and in some circumstances laptops and tablets.

“The lock down has highlighted how isolated our ex-residents can be without what most of us take for granted.

“Adrian suggested that I applied, he told me he would support the application for funding. He explained there was lots of people across the UK who would be applying but it would be worth a try.

“Within a week the response came through that we have secured £5,000, I was over the moon!”

Mr Johnston said: “Having known Rachel and the fantastic work Calderwood House do in our community, I was delighted to pass on the details to the Vinci UK Foundation as we are wanting to invest in local charities who have been impacted by coronavirus and who are on the front line in our communities helping others. I was really emotional when I got the call to say the funds had been approved, sharing this with Rachel was absolutely amazing.”

Stephen Pettit, hostel manager said: “Our clients have been faced with difficulties just like the rest of us, but we deal with vulnerable people who need that little bit of extra support, with this generous contribution we are now able to have a much more positive impact on their welfare in our fight against homelessness and poverty."

Julieanne Kelly, fundraiser at Calderwood House, said: “We are always looking for funding for our hostel, more than ever at this moment in time due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in our community.

"If you can help in anyway, please contact us on 07722589859 or email julieanne@togetherwecanfundraising.co.uk."