A HEREFORD charity which helps young people gain qualifications and find work has issued a "cry for help" after being told it has to move from where it is based.

Horizon Training runs from a large building in Whitecross Road and has a community cafe at the front called Cranfield's Cafe.

The charity, which has been running for 15 years but for four years as Horizon Training, has made the building fit-for-purpose for the courses which they run for 16 to 19-year-olds.

But they have been told they have to leave the building, which they rent, by the end of June as the owner has sold the premises.

Patricia Hales, chairwoman of trustees, said they now need to raise £50,000 to set up in a different building in Hereford.

She said: "This feels so unfair. We have got this built this up out of nothing - we have really dedicated staff.

"We get such big rewards. I just think to myself at this stage of the game we are four years in on our own now, this is going to cost so much."

Horizon Training runs courses in beauty, construction, catering, health and sports - there are classrooms, workshops, a beauty salon and catering kitchens on site. The courses result in qualifications to help find work.

Ms Hales said: "We run Horizon Training from here for 16 to 19-year-olds who are, for a variety of reasons, not yet ready to go onto further education or employment.

"We have young people here who have got GCSEs and have not coped at the college."

They see around 70 to 80 young people every year and they also have 15-year-olds in for one day a week who are struggling at school.

She said: "For the last academic year we had 60 per cent who went on to employment or education."

Their plight was highlighted by Reverend Ruth Hulse, Team Vicar in West Hereford, on the BBC2 show, A Vicar's Life. Ms Hales said this has meant donations have been sent in already, including a £1,000 cheque.

But they still have a way to go and Ms Hales said: "This is a cry for help to the local community."

She said they will have to make the new building fit-for-purpose which is going to cost in the region of £50,000.

They are currently looking at whether they could get a change of use at Victoria House (next to where the former eye hospital stood) in Eign Street which has been vacant for many years.

To donate go to https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/horizontraining