A NEW look is in store for Hexham Community Centre, with hopes that extra facilities will bring some new users into the centre.

The community centre, on Gilesgate, has received a £22,000 grant from the Sport England Community Fund.

The money will fund part of a project which is to cost approximately £36,000 and will see the centre refurbished with additional facilities to be added.

Refurbishment work has already begun in the reception area with funding received from the Northumberland County Council community chest, and the additional boost in funds is to pay for a refurbishment of the downstairs hall, floor and toilets.

Importantly, it will also fund the table tennis and indoor bowls facilities for the community centre, which it is hoped will bring in new users who previously have not visited the centre.

Egger has donated products enabling the trustees to bring down the spending needed.

Steve Ball, chairman of trustees at Hexham Community Centre, said: “We hope it will lead to greater usage of the community centre and a more diverse mix of people using it and different groups as well as the people who use it currently.

“We have always regarded the community centre as a community jewel and this is an opportunity for it to become more attractive for users and financially more viable meaning we can secure its future and see it grow in years to come.”

Councillors were told about the refurbishment at this month’s Hexham Town Council meeting, where Mr Ball said the £22,600 funding from Sports England was an unusually large amount to receive, which he said was a testament to the hard work of those involved in the community centre. It currently attracts 23 regular user groups, which cover people from age three to 103.

With the closest indoor bowls centre to Hexham being at West Denton, following the closure of the facility at Wentworth Leisure Centre when the ten pin bowling alley opened, it is thought the new facility in the community centre will have a strong take-up.

“This will all enable us to use the community centre more than we do currently,” added Mr Ball.

The work is due to start at the end of this month with the hope it will be completed by July.