Cardinal Hume opens CHAS advice centre

LONDON—Cardinal Basil Hume launched a new debt and housing advice service for the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) last week, writes Luke Coppen.
The society hopes the new specialist advice service will save hundreds of people from eviction over the next three years.
Speaking at the launch, the Cardinal paid tribute to the work of CHAS's director Robina Rafferty. He also referred in passing to his own present difficulty, following his surprise announcement last week that he was suffering from inoperable cancer.
Commending the new service, the Cardinal said he was constantly struck by the fact that while we sleep in our comfortable beds at night, a few feet from us someone may be sleeping in a doorway.
He recalled the homeless refugees fleeing Kosovo, comparing their plight to the homeless on the streets of England.
The new debt and housing advice service, which will operate in CHAS's headquarters in central London, was made possible by a National Lottery grant of £195,000.
CHAS was founded in 1958 by Maisie Ward and Molly Walsh to combat homelessness and help them find secure accommodation.—Photo: Sally Greenhill