THE future of a luncheon club has been secured thanks to a £30,000 cash boost from the National Lottery.

Pensioners who have enjoyed the facilities at Woodhouse Close Church Community Centre, in Bishop Auckland, are celebrating after an announcement today by the Community Fund.

The money means that two cooks employed at the centre can carry on serving lunches to the elderly for the next three years. It also means the services offered by the Day Club, and Meals-on-Wheels can continue.

Jane Armstrong, one of the volunteers at the Proudfoot Drive centre, said: "It is nice to know that something that has been happening for a long time and has benefited a lot of people will not have to come to a sudden full stop.''

She and fellow volunteer Peter Hall said the grant application was hard work but had been worthwhile.

Mr Hall, who delivers some of the meals to the elderly on the housing estate, said: "Sometimes we are the only social contact that these people have and it is good that it is able to carry on."

Cooks Cynthia Hall and Joyce Petty have worked in the centre's kitchens for the past six years, helped by dedicated duo Clive Geary and Shirley Richardson.

The centre is a valued meeting point on the Woodhouse Close housing estate, with many of the services for the elderly being operated for the past 18 years.

Volunteers have also received funding from the Scotto Trust and are hoping applications to other bodies will fund a revamp to the kitchen area.