VOLUNTARY groups have welcomed news that City of York Council is throwing its weight behind plans for a central Health and Social Care hub as a new home for charity organisations in the city.

The council is take out a lease on city centre offices for two to three years, while they try to find a permanent site for the new hub.

Organisations like the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society have welcomed the news.

The society could have been forced to cut services, or even become homeless, when the lease on its current home in Holgate Villas runs out next year.

An earlier scheme to transform former York care home Oliver House into a voluntary sector hub fell through, but voluntary organisations currently based in Holgate Villas went back to York’s Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) and the council when news of the Holgate Villas development broke.

Diane Roworth, the society’s chief officer, said: “Without this, a lot of organisations could have been homeless at the end of June.

“What this will do is great for us. We knew there are going to be a lot more people in the community who need services like ours, and a hub will make it easier for organisations to work together.”

When the society moved to Holgate Villas from its previous home in Bootham six years ago, the number of people using the resource and equipment centre shot up, to around 1,000 each year. The society wants to make sure a new home will be just as accessible for people who need their support, Ms Roworth added.

Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones, City of York Council’s deputy chief executive, has added his support the plans.

He said: “We’re delighted with Cabinet’s permission to progress this project with which we’re working in close partnership with York’s voluntary sector.

“We’re glad to support their invaluable contribution by providing a secure base for the next few years while we develop plans for a permanent health and social care hub: site options are being weighed and should be decided shortly.”