Latest news with #TeensUnite
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Plans to turn a former Hoddesdon police station into flats agreed
Planning permission to convert a former police station in a town into flats has been Borough Council's planning committee unanimously agreed to the plans for the building in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire at a meeting on 20 the 1960s-built police station closed, the site on the west side of the High Street has been used by the Teens Unite charity, by a café, and a second-hand clothes and book member Paul Mason described the plans as a "big improvement" on the current state. The building, which is no longer owned by Hertfordshire Police, will be extended as part of the work to turn it into 27 two-bedroom flats with most of them having an en-suite as well as a main to the Local Democracy Reporting Service it will now reach a height of four storeys, and include private balconies and terraces as well as communal gardens. Access will be from Woodlands Close, and there will be a total of 30 car parking spaces for the that is below the 54 expected spaces under the council's parking standards, officers noted that the site had "constraints" and that it was "within easy walking distance to bus services."The applicant's agent said: "The site presented us with a fantastic opportunity to refurbish and extend the existing building with an attractive, modern landmark building."Officers said the application would "promote an effective use of previously developed or brownfield land in meeting the need for new homes in a sustainable location". Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
16-02-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Hertfordshire teenage cancer charity gets keys to new home
A teenage cancer charity is celebrating its 18th birthday by receiving the keys to a landmark new Unite Fighting Cancer, based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, has purchased a property in nearby Broxbourne, which it hopes will be used to support people aged between 13 and executive Roxanne Lawrance said it would be the first of its kind in England; designed to provide residential stays for teenagers who had been diagnosed with charity was set up in 2007 to bring young people with cancer together by organising short breaks and group days out. It was founded by the fashion designer Karen Millen and her friend Debbie Pezzani, who met the charity's first beneficiary, Chris Firmager, then 19, while she was volunteering at a hospital in London. Mr Firmager, from Stevenage, had been diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, which his younger brother Carl was also diagnosed with a year died in Mrs Pezzani's arms in 2005."It was that night that I said to Chris 'we need to do something'," she recalled."The medical support is amazing but, actually, everything else falls by the wayside."The organisation initially worked with young people from Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent, but the introduction of virtual events in the pandemic quickly transformed Teens Unite into a national said it was on track to achieve its goal of supporting 10,000 teenagers and young adults within the next 10 Pezzani, from Wormley, who was awarded a British Empire Medal last year, said it had been her dream for the past 18 years to build a retreat for the young Firmager, now 41, is still in contact with many of the friends he made through Teens Unite and said he was proud of his brother's legacy."It's one thing to go through it yourself but to see someone else go through it that you care about is very difficult."He was a very special person and to know he's helped to make a difference to other people going through similar journeys… it's unbelievable." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
