A building left empty since the Covid pandemic is being transformed into a “much-needed” cafe and food bank.

Age UK’s Heather House in Avenue of Remembrance, Sittingbourne, is getting a revamp.

Swale Community Care Project and Sittingbourne and Sheppey Helping Ukraine have come together to give it a new lease of life.

In June, the group got the keys to the premises and renovations started.

Dan Marsh, from Bobbing, is one of the trustees and says it looked like it was frozen in time when they first arrived.

“Literally everything was left as if somebody had evacuated the building,” he explained.

“We’ve picked out iPads and people’s personal belongings, along with the sheeting up between the cubicles for people to be injected.

“It’s taken a little while to clear through and repurpose some of it.”

Age UK Kent Rivers has leased the property since it was built in 1989. When Covid hit in 2019, the NHS took over and it became a vaccination centre.

The health service then used Heather House as their local offices while they were rehoused elsewhere.

Last year both organisations managed to receive lottery funding for a community café and have since been fundraising and securing grant bids to make sure they “hit the ground running”.

However, the majority of the renovations are being carried out by construction company Trail Group, all free of charge.

Before and after: The building on Avenue of Remembrance was left since Covid. Picture: Dan Marsh

Michelle Henneker, who is part of Sittingbourne and Sheppey Helping Ukraine, says Swale is financially deprived in many areas.

She said: “Sadly, with KCC having their funds cut, they’re having to cut services that are needed locally.

“That leaves people in Swale without essential care.

“You have residents that will sit in their home all day with nothing and not speak to another soul.

“If we can get together and open something as simple as a cafe and change that person’s life, why wouldn’t you do that? We know how needed this is.”

Elaine Allen, from Iwade, is one of the founders of the Swale Community Care Project.

She added: “We’re all just trying to help each other.

“You do have some supportive café-type places in other boroughs, but Sittingbourne has nothing.”

The two charities believe that the cost of living crisis and mortgage interest rates are still making it hard for people’s money to last each month.

Trevor Thurlow, from Sheppey, is also a trustee. Over the last year, he has been delivering food parcels to a large number of residents in the area.

“I’ve seen an increase every other day in people needing it desperately,” he explained.

“It’s the way they are when I talk to them – they are really depressed. I do try to cheer them up before leaving.”

The hub will have a community café, food bank, food pantry, domestic violence support and other essential facilities.

They want to make it as low-cost as possible, with children having the option to eat for free.

Although an exact date hasn’t been confirmed, the group aims for it to open at the end of next month.

Michelle added: “We’ve had an influx of volunteers that are really excited that there’s going to be something local for the community.

“People remember what it looked like before. Most of the comments on social media have been about how excited they are to see the building being used.

“It’s having somewhere social to meet up that’s not going to cost the earth.”

If you would like to get involved with the project, email heatherhouse_cc@outlook.com.