A POPULAR local landmark is to get a £1.4 million facelift. Bold Miners Welfare Institute off Fleet Lane in Parr is to be transformed into a state of the art neighbourhood centre.

The new Bold Miners Neighbourhood Centre is set to breathe new life into the local community, offering improved social and club facilities, education and training as well as advice, guidance and support on a range of issues including job opportunities, benefits, housing and healthy living.

It will provide opportunities for volunteering and work placements for unemployed residents and help them to return to work and even start their own businesses. The new look centre will also have a community caf, office space for community agencies and social enterprises and conference, and meeting and exhibition facilities. A high quality crche will provide childcare for people using the centre.

Construction started on site during March, and work is now well underway, with much of the ground floor now completely removed. A nine month works contract is envisaged, with the centre becoming fully operational this coming November.

The social club is however presently open for business as usual, being temporarily relocated to the first floor of the building. A new lift has just been installed to ensure access for all sections of the community, including the disabled.

Tony Pickavance, a Trustee of Bold Miners Neighbourhood Centre, said: "This scheme represents seven long years' of hard work by members of the community, who have committed many hundreds of hours of voluntary effort to realise this ambitious project.

"With the added assistance of the many local agencies and service providers who have been good enough to provide Bold Miners with help and support along the way, a first class Neighbourhood Centre will at last be provided on this site, which is nothing short of what the people of Parr and its surrounding areas deserve".

l FUNDING for the project is coming from the Single Regeneration Budget, Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, European Regional Development Fund, and a grant from the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.