National Star in Hereford expands to support more learners

National Star in Hereford can support more local young people with disabilities thanks to the successful completion of a major project to expand and improve its facilities. 

The new two-storey addition to The Eveson Centre at Ledbury Road means National Star can now provide specialist education, therapy and support for up to 45 students with a wide range of additional needs. 

The Mayor of Hereford, Cllr Dan Powell, officially opened the extension during a special ceremony to thank those who supported the appeal. 

“We could not have achieved this without the amazing support of the people of Hereford and from a number of Trusts and Foundations,” said Sasha Narey, Head of Learning at Hereford. “This additional space will be life-changing for the local young people who we believe have so much to offer the community.  

“Our growth shows the incredible need in Hereford. These new facilities will enable us to support more young people and be able to adapt to meet their needs.”  

The charity opened the Eveson Centre in 2020 and in just four years the number of young people attending National Star has doubled. 

The new extension will provide desperately needed space including two new classrooms, two new personal care rooms, a multi-skills kitchen and communal space. 

Work has also been done to the existing building to accommodate more learners with a wide range of needs. It gave students a real sense of ownership of the extension and the refurbishment.   

“I liked watching the work being done and talking to the construction workers.” says student Brooklyn, age 20, who took much interest in the building project. 

For the students the most important change in the college is the extra space. 

“Having the extra space helps students be more independent because we have more choices about where we want to go during our breaks,” said student H, aged 20. 

Fellow student Shakira agrees. “The classrooms are bigger and don’t have so many echo sounds. Sometimes in the old classrooms if people were speaking it was loud and made it hard to concentrate.” 

National Star has not received government funding for capital development projects for more than a decade. Whilst most of the charity’s services are largely funded through statutory sources, National Star is dependent on fundraising and other income generation activities, such as charity shops, to help pay for specialist facilities and to enhance the experiences of the young adults at The Eveson Centre. 

The fundraising appeal for the expansion and improvement project at The Eveson Centre in Hereford was also supported by a number of Charitable Trusts and Foundations, including The Eveson Trust, who the centre is named after. 

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