POVERTY isn't part of peoples' life-plans," says Welcome Centre co-ordinator Lyn Thompson.

"They might find themselves homeless, or living in hostels. They might be one-parent families who are isolated, low and vulnerable, or they may have experienced mental illness.

"We work at offering people a chance to improve their self-esteem. We can't give people extra money, but we can act as a signpost to help them get their lives on track and we've got the success stories to prove it."

Offering a variety of clubs, services, courses and childcare groups, the Welcome Centre Family Support Project is now situated in the grounds of Brimble Hill Special School in Lyndhurst Crescent, Park North, but it didn't start out that way.

The Centre was originally set up under the management of a local steering group, working in partnership with the NSPCC, and the original family centre opened in July 1988 in a two-bedroom flat on the estate, offering mainly drop-in facilities for local parents, with childcare available.

Fourteen years on, the Welcome Centre and its users have come a long way. Now a charity and limited company, the Centre employs one project co-ordinator, an outreach project development worker, a childcare co-ordinator, two play workers, one administrator, 11 creche workers and one cleaner.

And as well as offering a place for people to drop in, have a coffee and let their children play, it also offers a variety of courses and activities from yoga and day trips to childcare and managing your own budget.

Carole Brien, 37, from Park North, started coming to the Centre six years ago after reading a leaflet about it, which came through her door.

"I have three children and they've loved coming along to play with the other children," she says.

"The Centre has also given me the chance to widen my own skills. I've taken classes in maths and basic computer skills and I've done a community course in childcare. On top of that, the Centre's helped me to meet people. Eventually I'd like to get a job at a school nearby and work as a teaching assistant."

Carole isn't the only person to have developed real skills from her time at the Welcome Centre.

For those that want to get involved, the Centre offers many volunteering opportunities some with amazing results.

Siobhan Smith, 24, who lives on the Park North estate with her six-year-old son Ashton, started coming to the Centre three years ago after dropping in by chance.

She said: "I was living at the St Ives Hostel and used to walk by sometimes. One day I just came in and it was one of the best things I've ever done.

"The first thing I did was put Ashton in for a mother and toddler session. From there I found out about the quiz group for adults and joined up. We play games and chat and quickly I met other people, like me and began to make friends.

"Since then I've done yoga classes, a course in positive parenting and another in basic childcare."

Siobhan says that before coming to the Centre she was very isolated.

"The only support I had was the crche at the hostel, which I had to pay for two days a week," she said.

"Since I've been here I've done a young mums-to-be course through the council and my little boy has been given the chance to interact and play with other children.

"On a personal level, my confidence has shot up. I'm now a crche worker with the young mums group here and after completing a community development course, I've got the chance to study for an NVQ."

Another success story to come out of the Welcome Centre is Sarah Turner, 28.

Sarah heard about the Centre from Siobhan when she too lived at the St Ives Hostel.

Now, three years later, she's about to train to become a teacher something she says would never have been possible without the Welcome Centre.

"I started coming to the centre when my little girl Anayah was seven months old," she explains. "Like Siobhan, I joined the quiz group and brought my daughter to the toddler group and before I knew it I was coming every day!

"In 2000, I was invited to start work here as a session worker in the after-school club and last year I became a crche and after-school supervisor. Now I'm going to college at the end of August to train to become a teacher.

"Before I started coming to the Centre I was sitting in the hostel slowly going insane. I didn't know what to do with myself, I had a young baby and I felt like I had nowhere to go.

"Now Siobhan and I visit the hostel and talk to the girls there about what they can do and more of them are coming here too. A couple of months ago we had about seven children in our kids group now it's quadrupled in size.

"The staff here are very friendly. If you have a problem they'll listen and help you to get advice. When you have a query about benefits, they can invite the relevant people in to help you. And they also run courses here to help you manage your budget. Everything is in confidence too, you really feel like they're caring for you."

Centre co-ordinator Lyn Thompson says: "It's great when you see people like Sarah and Siobhan turning their lives around.

"We shy away from using terms like poverty here, but some of these families really struggle. To us, the Centre is about coming together and giving people support, whatever their circumstances, and we're working hard to raise funds to make sure the work continues."

The Welcome Centre is open 9am-5pm Monday to Thursday and 9am-3pm on Fridays. For more information telephone (01793) 486806 or email welcentre@aol.com.