AFTER years of hard work and negotiation Spring Hill's new community centre is set to be officially opened next month.

The centre, in the former Spring Hill School building in Exchange Street, Accrington, has been given to the community of Spring Hill by Lancashire County Council.

The idea to use the site as a community centre was first broached by the Spring Hill Network Group and Residents' Association about two years ago.

The school moved into a new state-of-the-art building over the road last April but it was not until February that the old building was finally signed over to the community.

It has undergone extensive refurbishment with new features including improved disabled access and new toilets.

The scheme has been funded from a variety of sources including the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, LCDL, the CVS and the neighbourhood wardens. Youngsters in the youth offending programme have helped to tidy up the site.

Company secretary of the Spring Hill Centre, Diane Fielding, said: "We have been after this building now for two years. When the school moved we should have moved in but we couldn't because the paperwork hadn't been done, so Adult Education came in and has kept the building running for us. They helped us out for quite some time and we have worked very closely with them.

"The building has been gifted to the community by Lancashire County Council. This is a first - it has never been done before."

Julie Standage has been appointed as centre manager and there is a committee of 12 chaired by County Councillor Doreen Pollitt.

Lancashire Adult Learning and Lancashire Youth Association are based at the site full-time and it is already home to the Spring Hill Out-of-School Club.

Julie said: "We have got quite a few educational courses with a creche run by Lancashire Adult Learning and we are also working with neighbourhood learning in the communities - they are putting on a number of non-vocational courses.

"Meals on Wheels is based in our kitchen permanently and we can provide catering for anybody who uses the kitchen."

Two rooms, complete with blackboards and overhead projectors, are available at the centre for organisations and community groups to use with discretionary rates for the use of facilities.

Julie also outlined proposals put forward by two youngsters from Spring Hill to set up their own youth forum at the centre, which will link in with the Hyndburn Youth Council.

The centre will be opened by County Councillor Pollitt on Saturday 11 June at 12 noon, with an open day and community event running until 4pm. There will be a free buffet, a tombola and raffles, as well as information about what is on offer at the centre.

Diane said: "It is absolutely marvellous to get something like this in this area - we have not got anything here. People will be able to learn in their own community.

"They might find it daunting going to college but we are hopefully going to offer a more relaxed environment to learn."

The Scaitcliffe Community Centre was created on the site of the former infant school building on Hannah Street as part of the same project and the two centres will continue to work closely together to make sure that their services don't overlap.

For more information on using the centre or booking a room contact Julie on 871658.