CHARITY volunteers – who have served children and young people for more than 20 years – are on the hunt for a new home after being made to leave their base in the heart of the town centre.

The Exodus Project took over the former Topshop site on Cheapside more than two years ago but will leave due to the landlord now having a paying tenant, which will see Shoe Zone take its place.

Co-founder of the charity, Martin Sawdon, is hopeful they will find another building by the end of the month.

“It’s obviously not an ideal situation, but we are really grateful to the landlord for letting us serve the community from our Cheapside shop, rent-free, for the time we’ve had it,” Martin told the Chronicle.

Volunteers are currently in the process of moving their belongings to the former Methodist church on Barnsley Road, Cudworth, while they find a suitable building in the town centre.

Martin added: “The right premises haven’t come up yet – we are still searching for the right place, but we are hopeful that we’ll find somewhere.

“There’s no bad blood with the landlord at all, we feel really grateful he’s let us stay there for such a long time, and I’m positive about the project’s future going forward.

“We want people to come and use our shops as a place they can reconnect with the activities they enjoy, so we are pushing for our shops to be used as a community hub as well as a charity shop.”