A DROP-IN centre will be opened on Mersea next month to help people with unemployment, drugs and homelessness problems.

Sessions will run for one morning a week and organisers are hoping people will attend for anything from a friendly chat and a cup of tea to getting help with drug addiction.

The initiative is led by Gail Franklin, of Norfolk Avenue, West Mersea, who has been working at Colchester’s Open Door centre for five years.

She said: “It all started after a friend told me about a chap who was homeless on the island. I suggested we should consider opening a drop-in centre here and the idea has just been run with.

“Although Mersea, on the surface, seems quite affluent and it is a low-crime area, there are still people here with problems.

“People understand cities and towns like Colchester will always have social problems that need dealing with, but it also affects smaller communities.

“Drugs, especially, have become such a big issue over the past few years. If we can help people at the centre, that’s great. If we can’t, we can refer them on to people who can.”

Ten volunteers have already signed up to help the centre, including councillors, and financial support has been offered by local businesses. One has offered to pay for the centre’s first three months’ rent at St John’s Hall.

Mrs Franklin said: “The community is really getting behind us.”

Despite the rise in social issues across the country, Mrs Franklin rejected the idea the recession was to blame. She said: “One of my own sons is having problems with unemployment at the moment. It hits everybody.

“But I don’t believe in blaming the issues on the financial or political climate. There have always been social problems and there always will be.”

The centre will only open on Friday mornings from September, but Mrs Franklin said this could be increased in the future.

She said: “We have already had referrals for the Mersea centre, even though we haven’t opened yet.

“I think it’s going to be a really good resource for people in Mersea, because there isn’t anything else there that can offer this sort of help.”

The drop-in centre will run every Friday from 11.30am, from September 16. St John’s Hall is in Melrose Road.