Chesterfield Children’s Contact Centre facing uncertain future finds new home - to help children from separated families spend quality time with parents

Chesterfield Child Contact Centre was faced with the difficult task of finding new premises, after Rose Hill United Reformed Church closed its doors for the final time, earlier this year.

Church authorities said the closure was due to the church building being deemed as ‘unsustainable’.

Since opening in 1993, the church provided the Centre with a safe environment for hundreds of children from separated families to spend quality time with their non-resident parents or other family members.

After a period of uncertainty, committee members were delighted to receive an invitation from Chesterfield Baptist Church, on Cross Street.

Volunteer Kirsty Wood said, “We are excited to be working with Chesterfield Baptist Church. We’ve been made to feel very welcome by all involved. It’s a big change for everyone that uses the Centre but knowing we have somewhere we can call ‘home’ where we can continue to provide families with meaningful, fun times together is what it’s all about.”

The Centre, run entirely by volunteers, operates every Saturday afternoon and accepts self-referrals as well as referrals from Court Orders.

One parent, who attends the centre to see their daughter, said: “The volunteers over the last few months have been fantastic. I am so grateful. Seeing my daughter for two hours every Saturday keeps me going through the following fortnight. Before coming to the Centre I had very little hope of reconnecting with my daughter, but now, relations have improved and I am hopeful of moving forward.”