She is the only woman whose achievements are deemed worthy of a statue in Liverpool’s St George’s Hall. Her sleeves are rolled up, she is ready to get her hands dirty – while the men around her are captured in their pomp, ready to preach a sermon or deliver a speech to parliament.

Now Kitty Wilkinson, the Irish inventor of the public washhouse, is to be honoured again in her adopted home. This time the woman known as the Saint of the Slums will be immortalised not in marble but in soap suds, when a non-profit launderette will open bearing her name.

Kitty’s Launderette in Everton will be the first non-commercial washhouse to open in Liverpool for many decades and will cater to one of Europe’s most deprived communities. In an inner-city area where almost half of children grow up in poverty and the average family takes home just £17,597 a year, the new launderette aims to offer both a cheap place to wash and dry clothes and a warm, welcoming space for the community.

The brainchild of Yorkshire-born artist Grace Harrison and a co-operative of native and newer Scousers in their twenties and early thirties, the ecological launderette is one of a growing number of community washhouses offering help to those who cannot afford to do their laundry.

Kitty Wilkinson, creator of Britain’s first public washhouse. Photograph: Alamy

Thanks to Wilkinson, who invited local women to use her boiler during the cholera epidemics of the 1830s, Liverpool was home to the first ever public washhouse in Britain. But as more households began to be able to afford washing machines the last one, the Fred Robinson Public Laundry, closed in 1995.

Despite the current ubiquity of washing machines, they can come at a high price, said Rachael O’Byrne, a community worker who is part of the co-op. She wants to offer an alternative to people who end up paying over the odds at rent-to-own electricals outlets such as BrightHouse. An investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority found that customers of such stores pay more than £1,500 for ovens that sell in other high-street shops for less than £300. Offering an alternative was “a big motivator”, said O’Byrne. “These companies make lives miserable for so many people. It’s one of the hidden consequences of austerity, but it really takes its toll on families.”

Like Northmoor Laundrette in Manchester and the Boundary Community Launderette in Bethnal Green, east London, Kitty’s will be run as a social enterprise, with all profits put back into the community.

“Most of the launderettes left in Liverpool are all run by the same company and they are all automated,” said Harrison, who plans to price a wash at or below the rates of her commercial competitors.

She hopes to receive a grant that will cover the cost of the machines, allowing them to undercut the competition. Fundraising is currently about £2,000 short of its £14,000 goal, which will help convert a former builders’ yard into a functioning laundry. A series of inventive rewards have already attracted 206 backers from around the country, with some stumping up £500 for the privilege of having a washing machine named after them or someone they love.

An impression of how the new Kitty’s launderette may look, by artist Myriam Lahnite.

Harrison wants Kitty’s to be more than just a launderette – “a warm and welcoming space for arts and social activities”. She plans exhibitions, craft and clothing repair clubs, social history projects and film nights where the movies are chosen to last as long as a wash and dry cycle.

People will be encouraged to hang around – there will be a small bar area serving drinks and refreshments, and they promise “great wifi and affordable access to computer and printing facilities”. The group also plans to take on commercial washing contracts for local businesses and charities.

For O’Byrne the launderette is not just about providing an essential community service but also paying homage to Wilkinson, one of the largely unsung heroes of working-class Britain. “Not only is history written by men but also middle-class men, and the role of working-class women has largely been under-recorded,” she said.

For Harrison, Wilkinson’s status as an adopted Liverpudlian is important too. “We want to celebrate the contributions immigrants make to our communities.”