Delight at £200k Burnley community centre revamp (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Delight at £200k Burnley community centre revamp

2:00pm Friday 14th September 2012 in News By Jessica Cree, Education reporter

WORK has started as a “dilapidated” Burnley community centre undergoes a £200,000 revamp.

St Catherine’s in Mary Way was built in 1966 and was originally the Parish Hall of the church of the same name.

Now Father Roger Parker hopes the refurbishment will breathe new life into local schemes.

The work, which started last week, is likely to be completed in mid-February. In the meantime, the centre’s services will be moved into the nearby church in Todmorden Road.

He said up to 200 people every week could use the new facility once it is up and running.

Since its launch more than ten years ago it has catered for a luncheon club, drop-in sessions for homeless people and offers cookery courses and activities for youngsters.

Father Parker said: “This new centre will be bigger and give us more space for our work. For the first time we will have proper access and facilities for disabled people and a shower for homeless people.

“The new building gives us the capacity to do so much more for the immediate community and groups throughout Burnley.”

The centre serves people from Fulledge, Brunshaw, Turf Moor, Lower and Higher Tentre, Belvedere Road, Leyland Road and Burnley Wood.

Grants of £60,000 from the Diocese of Blackburn and £30,000 from the Society of St John the Evangelist Trust were topped up by church funds to finance the project over the last four years.

Entitled Building Blocks of Hope, parishioners bought individual blocks that will be entered into a special book of commemoration to be preserved for posterity as a memorial.

Father Parker added that his congregation was “very excited about the future”.

The church’s fundraising efforts had suffered a minor setback in December last year after an intruder broke into the hall and caused £1,500 of damage.

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