A CHARITY for people with mental health problems in the Blackburn area has achieved it's £100,000 dream of a permanent drop-in centre after more than a quarter of a century spent fundraising.

Volunteers from the Blackburn and District Association for Mental Health have worked tirelessly for 27 years to raise the cash for a permanent Mind Centre through coffee mornings, walks and tombolas - the largest single donation was £12,000, 15 years ago.

Project co-ordinator Eric Green, who has worked for the charity throughout the 27 years, says the purchase of James House, in James Street, to give a secure home to the Mind Centre will be an enduring legacy for the volunteers who set up the charity.

The Blackburn and District Association for Mental Health was founded in 1965 by a group of social workers from Queen's Park Hospital who believed people with mental health issues needed better services.

The Mind Centre, currently based in rented premises in Regent Street, was established in 1976 to provide a drop-in facility to provide support and information to anyone with learning difficulties or a mental disability.

Today it employs two full-time and three part-time staff and is used by about 30 people every day, as well as taking calls from anyone who needs advice.

The new site is currently being renovated and extended and is expected to open in September.

Mr Green said: "This will be a great legacy for the committee, many of whom are getting elderly now.

"They wanted to leave something permanent.

"The Mind Centre provides a very valuable service to vulnerable people and a permanent site will give it a secure future.

"A lot of people come through the door looking for help. Some will come back often, some maybe every five years if their illness returns, but we are always here."

"Raising the money has been really hard work.

"It has all come from coffee mornings, sponsored walks, raffles, tombolas and that sort of thing. But it has been worth it."