Trowbridge charity Vine for Pat is holding a second meeting for volunteers interested in helping it relaunch, after an encouraging response to a previous appeal in the Wiltshire Times.

The charity is trying to start up again and offer temporary accommodation to the county’s vulnerable teenage girls at a hostel in Fore Street.

The charity was originally set up in 1989 by Pat and Colin Penny, but closed 18 months ago. It was forced to evict some residents after its electricity was cut off because it could not pay the bills and the rent for the premises was in arrears.

Mrs Penny, whose husband died in 2012, is now looking to start again with a new board to help accomplish her vision, and she says the owner of the Fore Street properties still wants to sell them.

She said: “The article did raise interest and the response was very positive. We even had an email from abroad from a gentleman who read the story on the Wiltshire Times’ website.

“Unfortunately it was a little too close to the event for some of the people who got in contact, so for the sake of all those who would like to help but could not attend because of previous commitments, it has been decided to hold another meeting.

“The article also stirred up some of the young women who had been helped by the charity and has encouraged them to meet up, including those we had to evict from a place they had come to know as home.

“The charity will be more or less starting from a blank sheet and is looking to elect a new board to help it accomplish its vision for the future, but we need as much support as possible.”

Mrs Penny, who had 50 volunteers involved with Vine for Pat before it closed, is holding a second meeting at 68 Fore Street on January 31 from 12.15pm.

She added: “We would like to invite members of the public who believe they can offer support to the charity and any young prospective residents.

“I believe there is a way forward and there are still girls out there that need the help the charity was offering before it closed. We are now ready to go again and hopefully the community will back us.”