AN "inspirational" woman who founded a Bournemouth charity has had its training centre renamed in her honour.

Supporters and trustees of the Crumbs Project were joined by the family of the late Anne Gardner MBE at a celebration of her life at the newly dubbed Anne Gardner Suite.

Mrs Gardner, who died late last year, was instrumental in the founding of the Crumbs Project in 1997 and remained actively involved with the charity for the following 20 years.

Chairman Douglas Eyre said: "Anne was a truly inspirational woman whose vision and drive created a place for vulnerable adults to learn new skills and change their lives in a positive way.

"Her legacy continues to thrive as we seek to enrol more trainees than ever before and whom will directly benefit from the Anne Gardner Suite."

Mrs Gardner began her life’s work to improve provision of mental health care when her daughter Elizabeth (Liz) began to hear voices and was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17.

She had trained in healthcare at Guy’s Hospital in London between 1949 to 1953, and she went on to volunteer as hospital manager at St Ann’s in Poole for some 10 years before creating the Crumbs Project.

She was a member of the National Schizophrenia Fellowship and alongside close friend Pat Hutchison was involved in setting up a ‘Home for Life’ for people with enduring mental illnesses.

The Crumbs Project provides training for independence and employment for people with learning disabilities, mental health issues and stabilized addiction problems, offering vulnerable individuals the opportunity to learn valuable life skills including customer service, food preparation, cooking, baking and money handling.

With the support of Marks & Spencer’s outreach programme, the suite has been transformed to create a welcoming, multi-functional space for trainees to learn new skills.

The redecoration incorporates the journey of Crumbs from its modest beginnings to the highly-regarded training centre it is today, and depicts Anne’s infamous saying "from small acorns, mighty oaks grow".

The suite will be available for hire for various uses.

For more information about the Crumbs Project visit crumbs.org.uk, call 01202 519320 or email bakery@crumbs.org.uk