A community centre in Radcliffe will reopen today, Saturday, as a "broad base" for the community after closing its doors more than a year ago.
Community and church groups, along with councillors from the Radcliffe First party, announced plans to reopen St Philip’s Community Centre, on Higher Dean Street earlier this year.
The centre, which was formerly home to a pre-school group, had been left vacant for more than a year before the work to reopen the space began.
Radcliffe First teamed up with groups such as Radcliffe Litter Pickers and Growing Together this summer to turn the space back into a community hub.
READ MORE: Plans to reopen St Phillip’s Community Centre in Radcliffe.
The centre will be re-launch today with an event designed to reintroduce the space to the community and encourage residents to put forward their ideas on how to use it.
Radcliffe First leader, Cllr Mike Smith, who has been involved in renovating the building, says the hard work of the community has already made a big difference.
He said: “We’ve generally cut back all the foliage, the car park area was really overgrown.
“We’ve cleared all the rubbish and emptied all the gutters so we can actually use that as a car park now.”
In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Bury has recently welcomed a number of refugees, and Cllr Smith has proposed the space could be used to provide new arrivals with resources, advice and English lessons.
However, he is also encouraging residents to come forward with their own ideas for the centre.
He said: “What we want to do is appeal to as broad a base of the community as we can.
“We have a lot more need in the community now for community spaces for short periods of time at a relatively low cost, and that what we want to provide with this centre.
“We’ve already had lots of interest from people who were already there, the scouts, we’ve got interest from somebody who wants to run cooking classes.
“We want to get as many groups as possible and not have just one group monopolise it.”
The centre will open today from 2pm to 4pm, with Arch Deacon Jean Burgess and Area Dean Rachel Mann will officiating as well as entertainment for children.
It will open again from 7pm with refreshments provided and residents will be invited to share their ideas for the space with councillors.
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