A local support centre helping vulnerable people in Weymouth and Portland is getting ready to celebrate a milestone anniversary. 

The Lantern Trust, an independent charity based in Weymouth, is approaching 35 years of service. 

Founded in 1983, it seeks to help vulnerable and marginalised people in the borough through its resource centre and by working closely with other agencies. 

The charity offers housing benefit advice, advocacy, debt management, and financial assistance with deposits, to those most in need.

A central part of The Lantern’s service is its coffee bar sessions that run from Monday to Friday each week. 

The drop-in sessions act as a hub to the rest of its services. Hot meals are provided each day and the coffee bar feeds more than 80 people per week on average, alongside providing a safe space for people to make the first steps towards rebuilding their lives. 

It is widely recognised as a shining light for the most vulnerable within the local community. 

People who turn to Lantern are often experiencing personal concerns such as mental health problems, offending behaviour, addiction or homelessness.

The Trust aims at meeting the needs of these people with crisis response and housing and accommodation support through its rent deposit scheme. 

Project manager Mike Graham, who has been with Lantern for 15 years, said: “We work very closely with Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and its housing team. 

“Last year, we helped to house 70 people that would have been by themselves if it wasn’t for Lantern. 

“It is an exciting time, and we hope to build on what we have already done. We are looking into securing our own housing project to provide actual housing ourselves. 

“We are the only locally based charity that has been here for this long a time.”

The Lantern charity shop in Chaplehay, identifiable by a yellow lantern on the outside of the building, is connected to the coffee bar and run by a team of dedicated volunteers.

Some rely on the shop to provide clothing for them or their families, with others using it as a means to furnish their house as well as building long-lasting relationships with the volunteers. 

The charity is also part of Dorset County Council’s Social Inclusion Pilot aimed at supporting the most socially excluded in society.

Mr Graham added: “Lantern is underpinned by a huge number of dedicated volunteers, staff and trustees, and I want to say a huge thank you to all of them.”

“Here’s to the future where we look to pastures new.”