Fundraising continues for a new therapeutic centre to transform the lives of women in the Ipswich area struggling with addictions.
£30,000 in donations has allowed trustees of Talitha Koum to go ahead with the purchase of a new timber frame accommodation block.
The block has been ordered from a local Ipswich supplier and work will start on setting it in place in the coming weeks.
Peter Matthews, chair of the trustees said: "This accommodation block will be for the women who will live on site during their recovery.
"It will cater for 12 people at any one time as they go through a 12 step recovery programme and also train and learn new skills to help them re-integrate back into the community.
"This is very much needed as there are so very few such centres in the country and it will give women caught up in cycles of addiction a second chance."
Donations include a £15,000 grant from the Somebody's Daughter Memorial Fund, launched by the Evening Star and Ipswich Borough Council in memory of five young women murdered in Ipswich in 2006. The victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls, had all battled with drug addiction before they were killed by Steve Wright.
A £500,000 appeal was launched earlier in the year to build the Hope Centre.
The local community has got behind the project by holding fundraising events and challenges.
David Coley, a 63-year-old veteran runner from Ipswich, raised £4,000 by running this year's London Marathon.
Mr Matthews said: "It is the commitment of people like David who are organising fundraisers from barbecues to sponsored events that will help us reach our overall target.
"There is a long way to go but we are on the way and people are thinking of various different ways to raise the money. Volunteers are giving their time on site to lay paths and landscape the grounds."
To donate to the project visit: http://www.talithakoum.org.uk
