THE manager of a women’s centre in Sefton was hit for six when she found out that a volunteer helping out was Justine Mills, founder of Liverpool fashion store Cricket.

It was part of the scheme run by Business in the Community called Hidden Honcho, which placed city entrepreneurs with social enterprises, but initially kept their identities secret.

Ms Mills was paired with the Swan (Sefton Women’s Advisory Network) centre, a charity which has a special interest in women with stress and depression.

Centre manager Ann Crotty said: “I didn’t have any idea who she was, it was a complete surprise.”

The partnership comes at a busy time for the charity, which has just moved into a new site, in Empire House, on Bootle’s Linacre Road, because its previous home was being demolished.

“This building is three times bigger so we can grow the organisation,” she added. “We will be able to offer more counselling and perhaps develop more services.

“We are in a much busier location and more in the heart of the community. We will certainly be busier.

“The conditions are much, much better then we had before. The whole building is bigger, safer and we have got it decorated and kitted out in a way that we couldn’t do before.”

Ms Mills is far more used to kitting out celebrities, with her shop synonymous with WAGs and stars from the world of entertainment, but was enthusiastic about the work being done at the centre.

She said: “I think it’s important that you give something back. It’s also good for me to make connections outside the fashion world and get out in the community.

“I was told about the work they did and I said I would be happy to get involved in.

“I met up with Ann and she took me around the centre.

“I asked her to draw up a wish- list, and said I would try to act as a fairy godmother to see what I could do.

“They really needed some redecorating doing because they have just moved in and it felt a bit sterile.

“I got our painter to go along to paint some rooms, and provided a CD player to make it more homely and comfortable.” For the staff at Swan, there remains a lot of work still to do.

“Our challenge now will be that we are in a building that’s costing a lot more,” said Mrs Crotty.

“My next hurdle is making sure that the funding is renewed next year, as we are coming to the end of our three-year funding period.

“I am also seeking out more funding to expand the counselling service.”

The Swan women’s centre sees about 700 women a year, but it is a project that helps just six women a year that they are especially proud of.

Mrs Crotty added: “The Staying Out project, which is in its ninth year, is aimed at keeping women out of in-patient psychiatric care and we have had national recognition for that.

“It is specifically for women who maybe have a history going into hospital to prevent them going back or to keep them out in the first place.

“We give them a 12-month project to help them do that. The success rate has been very good.

“It only costs £21,000 a year to run that project while it costs about £300 a day to have someone in hospital.

“It saves money but it also avoids the women having to go back in to hospital.”

TO FIND out how the other partnerships in the scheme got on, follow our coverage, continuing in next Tuesday’s Liverpool Daily Post.