THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has accepted an invitation to become patron of the homeless Open Centre in Canterbury. Staff at the centre in Station Road East said this week they were delighted that he had become their figurehead.

They also hope it may influence another effort to buy part of their building which owner Railtrack has been negotiating to sell to a property developer. Charity fund-raising officer Katrina Rodgers said: "We are thrilled the Archbishop has agreed to our offer.

"He has been a supporter of the charity and also made a personal donation to our building appeal. Obviously, he has a very busy schedule but we do hope he can visit us some time this year."

The collapse this week of Railtrack, which is now in the hands of financial administrators, has also given the charity new hope to secure part of the centre which is at risk of being sold to developer, Sloggett.

Katrina Rogers added: "We shall be writing to the administrators to see if there is a change of heart and they might accept our offer. It may even help that the Archbishop is our patron. We certainly have nothing to lose."

The charity has also thanked the community spirit of the district following harvest festival in which thousands of pounds of food and supplies were collected and donated to the homeless centre. The response has been fantastic and provided us with a really good stock of essentials."