Berkshire charity faces eviction from Wokingham premises
The Cowshed struggles to find new home as council plans redevelopment
Last updated 6th Nov 2026
A Berkshire charity supporting people in crisis says finding a new home is “verging on impossible” as it faces having to leave its Wokingham base under council redevelopment plans.
The Cowshed is set to lose its 17,000 sq ft premises at Mulberry Business Park if Wokingham Borough Council’s plans to build more than 100 affordable and specialist homes on the site go ahead.
The charity provides clothing, bedding, household goods and baby equipment to people facing hardship, including those fleeing domestic abuse, leaving prison or at risk of eviction.
Founder and chief executive Sally Russell said the organisation had always known its stay at the council-owned site would be temporary, but had grown considerably since moving in and the building had become a community hub.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the charity had been looking for new premises but that finding somewhere suitable was difficult.
She said: “We’ve got 400 volunteers and so we’ve been looking, but finding a building that is free and 17,000 square feet in Berkshire that is going to give us the same deal as we have at the moment is verging on impossible.
“We don’t have money to pay commercial rent. We’re a charity.
“We’re very resilient. We’ve moved six times in eight years and we’ll do everything we can to keep supporting the people we support.”
The charity receives referrals from around 200 organisations, including local authorities, but is not commissioned or paid by them for its services.
Instead, it relies on fundraising, grants, selling donated items and activities such as sewing courses.
Ms Russell said the charity had calculated it provided £560,000 in public benefit to Wokingham last year.
She said: “If we weren’t here to provide that service, they’d still have to help the people that we’re helping.
“I think they need to look at the way that they work in partnership with charities.”
The relationship between the council and the charity was raised at a scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday, November 4, as councillors considered proposals to redevelop Mulberry Business Park for social housing, which would mean The Cowshed having to relocate.
Cllr Marie-Louise Weighill said the authority had previously described The Cowshed as a community partner rather than simply a tenant and argued that lessons should be learned about how it works with voluntary organisations.
Council leader Cllr Stephen Conway said he agreed, but said the charity’s occupation of the site had always been intended to be temporary, under a three-month rolling agreement for up to three years.
He said: “We will do our very best to make things as easy as possible in these circumstances for The Cowshed, whose valuable work we do recognise and appreciate greatly.
“We want to try and find a way of facilitating their moving to other premises.”
He said the council had offered the services of its commercial agent to help the charity find alternative premises.
However, Ms Russell said finding somewhere affordable remained a major challenge.
“It’s very difficult for us to find a property that we can actually speak to the landlord,” she said.
The council’s redevelopment proposals are due to go before its executive on November 26.