CLOSE House youth centre at the heart of Hereford will be able to continue its makeover and give the city's young people the support they need at times of stress, thanks to a £500 donation from local lawyers Harrison Clark Rickerbys inc Gordon Lutton's charitable trust.

The centre, which supports young people aged between 11 and 24, offering them a safe haven and helping them to overcome negative experiences, has already benefited from the firm's help - staff raised money by washing cars and then went into the centre to carry out DIY jobs, converting a storage room into a counselling room and helping to redecorate some areas.

Ben Lea from Close House, said: "We plan to use the donation to keep our daytime drop-in service running, helping any young person who is at a loss to find some support and direction, and to access the workshops and volunteering programmes we offer. This would not be possible without the help of the community chipping in, in the way that the Trust have."

Matt Hayes, head of the firm Hereford office, said "I am really glad that the charitable trust is supporting the centre in this way. Since it was founded 10 years ago, it has given more than £150,000 to good causes across the Three Counties and young people in Hereford have benefited in recent years from donations to the Herefordshire Vennture's street pastors and to the Brookfield School to support a visiting drama group."

Harrison Clark Rickerbys has 450 staff and partners based at offices in Hereford, Worcester, Birmingham, Cheltenham, the Wye Valley, and the Thames Valley, who provide a complete spectrum of legal services to both business and private clients, regionally and nationwide. The firm also has a number of highly successful teams specialising in individual market sectors, including health and social care, education, agricultural and rural affairs, defence, security and the forces, advanced manufacturing and construction.