Centre to continue aid work

By Shaun Inguanzo
THE CYRENE Centre will promote its work with drug and alcohol affected people and their families in a bid to capture more funding.
The Noble Park-based service and support centre, run largely by an army of 44 volunteers, needs $30,000 to continue renting its Douglas Street shopfront.
Initial fears by volunteers were that the centre would close down, but this week Keysborough Ward councillor Roz Blades, who is council’s representative at the centre, said even without the funding ‘the Cyrene Centre has no intention of going anywhere’.
Cr Blades said to attract more funding the centre would now positively promote the good community work its volunteers and workers were undertaking.
“We are just letting people know that the centre can provide a good, caring service,” she said.
“It is about the right information getting to people, including to council and local politicians.
“Sometimes you plod along quietly doing things and being good at it, which is what the Cyrene Centre has done. We intend to carry on providing it.”
Cr Blades said the centre would also continue discussions with the State Government regarding rent funding.