Cathedral opens revamped Cardinal Hume Centre

BY CHRISTINA FARRELL
MORE THAN 200 friends and supporters joined staff to celebrate the opening of the newly refurbished Cardinal Hume centre in London on Monday evening.
The centre, in Horseferry Road, SW! — close to the Houses of Parliament — was founded by the late Cardinal Basil Hume in the 1980s and is the only charity to bear his name.
For 20 years it has offered help to the homeless and migrant community in London. The centre was scheduled to be opened by the Duke of Westminster who had to pull out at the last minute due to illness. His place was taken by John Kennedy CBE who was on his way to a state dinner with the Queen and looked resplendent in full Papal Knight uniform.
Other speakers included the centre's director Cathy Corcoran, Sr Sheila Sumner, chair of trustees, and Bishop Bernard Longley, who blessed the building before performing a
ribbon-cutting ceremony. Welcoming guests Cathy Corcoran said: "There are many people sleeping on the streets of London tonight, they will be the counted ones; and then there are the uncounted — those sleeping in inadequate, insecure or overcrowded accommodation. They may be hidden but they are there. Homelessness hasn't gone away — it's on the increase, with an alarming rise in the numbers of young people among its ranks." To mark its anniversary year the centre
has undergone a major refurbishment costing over £3 million. The works have substantially extended and modernised the 1960s building, which was originally built as a convent.
The Cardinal Hume centre now has a 32-room hostel for young homeless plus a drop-in family centre and surgery.
Ms Corcoran said the generosity of sponsors and the improvements in the centre's facilities would enable it to help many more young and vulnerable people.