MOMO'S owner Claire Rigby is turning her business into a not-for-profit organisation and aims to find a new premises for the community hub.

The Cotham Street venue, which hosted regular workshops and events, had to close in November due to flooding.

However, the public rallied behind Claire weeks before Christmas, raising funds for her in the short term and coming up with a plan to save the business going forward.

Now mum-of-one Claire has announced that Momo's is becoming a Community Interest Company (CIC).

This is a limited company, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct business or activities for community benefit.

She said: "I just want to give a massive thank you to all the people who have helped to get me through the last three months. It’s been a tough ride, emotionally, financially and mentally.

"Without the support of my customers, volunteers, staff, community groups and the council I would have given up.

"So to thank each and every person we have decided to turn Momo's into a non-profit organisation so the St Helens community can receive the best service from us that is wholly built on the bespoke needs of the town.

"Momo's doesn’t belong to me anymore, it belongs to the people of St Helens."

In November Claire revealed problems with the building on Cotham Street, including repetitive flooding, was the major reason behind the forced closure.

She added: "When we had to temporarily close due to the building, I thought I’d lost everything – but my inbox is still full all the time with people who need Momo's.

"They have come to rely on the service and support they have received from us.

"We had planned to build on Momo's from the beginning, but due to nature of the damage to the building we weren’t able to expand as we only had access to 50 per cent of the building.

"But, now we hope to secure a new premises that will allow us to do what we set out to do originally and with with CIC status we can do fundraising to help us help everyone.

"I want to offer a safe space for everyone and welcome them with open arms.

"We’ve been teaming up with lots of other support services across the town and hope to build a chain of support around the most vulnerable in our society, that also gives a place for all – from babies to retirement."