LONGBARN Residents’ Association has been made a registered charity as the group looks to continue and extend its impact in the community.

The residents’ association applied to become a registered charity at the end of November and had expected to hear a verdict before the New Year, but the Charity Commission approved the bid the following day.

Chairman Geoff Orange hopes that the move will open up new revenue streams and allow it to have a greater impact in Longbarn.

He said: “We wanted to make the Longbarn Residents Association a more substantial organisation and make sure that we could do things that without that charitable status we couldn’t do.

“It opens up a lot of areas of fundraising so we will be able to do more things in the area if successful.

“From small beginnings we’re now making a big impact and improving the area.”

The organisation was founded five years ago by a small group of residents who were concerned with declining standards in the area, and it has grown ever since.

Geoff added: “Our concerns were that the area was deteriorating so we thought we’d band ourselves together to try to improve Longbarn.

“There was probably about five or six of us at the time but now at a normal meeting we get between 50 and 60 people coming along.

“It seems like it’s become a 24 hours a day, seven days a week job and there are lot of people involved.”

Central to the group’s achievements for Geoff is the improved appearance of the area, with Longbarn receiving a rating of outstanding from Britain in Bloom last month.

Geoff said: “There are all sorts of things that we’re proud of but one of the big achievements is the improvement in the landscape throughout Longbarn.

“We’ve now bought our own lawnmower to cut the grass and we’ve put planters along the road.

“Every two weeks on a Friday we have an afternoon where people come together and have tea and cakes and play a couple of games of bingo, which gets people out of the house when they perhaps wouldn’t otherwise.”

“Another big thing is that we’re now consulting with people so that we can talk about difficulties before they become difficulties.

“We talk to housing associations and businesses in the area and have regular meetings with these people which helps to overcome problems.”