Fresh face at old housing office

Published by jessica.britton for Merlin Housing Society in Housing

The future’s looking bright for a community group who have just finished moving into Merlin Housing Society’s former housing office in Cadbury Heath.

Juice Community Project opened the doors to its new home yesterday and have got big plans for the place. The group runs community projects including parent and toddler groups, play schemes, arts groups as well as organising the annual outdoor carol concert on Banjo Island.

Janice Suffolk, Juice's director, explains: "We will now be situated right in the heart of the community that we are working with - having an open door for people to come and see us will be great. Not only does it give us the ability to run a community information centre and host drop in sessions for other agencies, it gives us a real home, somewhere to live, breathe and work for the community!"

The recent relocation of Merlin’s housing office to a newly built office in Kingswood meant that there was the opportunity for the old premises to be used by the local community.

Jennifer Griffiths, Merlin's Community Investment Manager, said: "We felt this was a real opportunity for Merlin to invest in our communities. We asked who would be able to make use of the Cadbury Heath office and, following a lot of interest, Juice was selected."

Merlin will continue to have a local presence in Cadbury Heath through weekly housing surgeries starting Wednesday 25 May, saving local residents a trip to Kingswood.

The local police and North Bristol Advice service will also host regular surgeries from the Juice offices.  

Local businesses have kindly given time and materials for free to convert the units in line with Juice’s requirements.