For 55 years, Foxton has worked with the most marginalised communities in Preston to provide them with opportunities to flourish as human beings.
The organisation was established as a registered charity on November 26 1969, under the wing of the Blackburn Diocese of the Church of England to meet the needs of young people across five parishes in the centre of the city. Brian Foxton, a clergyman, who was based at what is now Preston Minster, was a key figure delivering work to these young people and gave the organisation its name.
We reviewed our structure and became a Charitably Incorporated Organisation on July 25 2013, retaining our original name as a link to our history.
We maintain our long-established links with the diocese but operate as a secular organisation respecting all faiths.
Our original base was built as a youth centre in 1969 on Knowsley Street in Avenham with help from the diocese, county and borough councils and the Department of Education. Many youth centres were built in this period following publication of the Albermarle report into youth work in 1960.
This was the only building the charity had use of until 2011 when we acquired the Women’s Centre on New Hall Lane. This building was the base from which our renowned work with street sex workers is delivered. We secured a capital grant of £80,000 to completely refurbish this building in 2022 completing the project in March 2023. It is now a warm welcoming safe space for the women we work with.
During the years since 2015 the charity has developed supported accommodation for rough sleepers in the city. Initially we provided accommodation in shared house in the community gradually expanding numbers to meet the needs of our beneficiaries.
Following the PNE Big Sleep Out in November 2019 we bought our first house which was converted into two studio flats. In 2021 we developed a partnership funded by the RSAP program with Calico securing four new houses for rough sleepers and in 2022 opened Kenmure Lodge a 14-bed supported accommodation project with Hilldale Housing Association. We currently provide 50 supported places each night in the city for rough sleepers.
In 2023 we moved our daytime homeless provision to our new day centre in the basement of the Central Methodist church on Lune Street. We secured a grant of £118,000 from the Department of Levelling Up to refurbish the building and added substantial charitable funds to complete the work. This project offers practical support to the homeless
Our original home in Avenham was demolished in April 2024 to make way for a new Youth Centre which is under construction with a completion date in early 2025.
We have a temporary base for our Youth and community services some 200 metres from there which we are using until the new building is ready. We are proud of our staff team and the young people who worked tirelessly to secure the £2.4 million funding to transform our youth centre. They continue to work with our architect and design team to ensure the new building meets their needs for hopefully the next 50 years.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the charity and allows us to deliver on our on-going commitment to the young people of our city.
The youth work team also run an open space in the city, ‘Smiths Rec’, which is a valuable resource for their work with young people in the area.
How we’ve helped.
The Foxton has saved my life. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here today. They truly are amazing.
Foxton is a place of safety and comfort and as for Lynda, she means the world too me. She is always there for me and I walk away feeling 100% better in myself.
The Foxton Centre is not only a safe space for our service users, but they communicate well with us as probation practitioners ensuring we are aware of any concerns they have and that we can reach out to them for support and advice.