A COMMUNITY has transformed a former coal yard into a thriving garage which will offer training to young people throughout the Bishop Auckland and Wear Valley area.

Dene Valley Community Transport proudly unveiled its new venture this week, just over ten years after it was established by a group of dedicated volunteers.

The £63,000 scheme is the result of two years of hard work by volunteers who have raised money through European funding, grants from Wear Valley District Council and various other trusts and agencies.

The money has helped pay for the building of a garage, equipment, a full time mechanic/trainer and a caretaker at Eldon Lane, near Bishop Auckland.

Chairwoman Margaret Ingledew said: "We have worked very hard for this and we are hoping to open up new opportunities for young people in the area, who may not have the confidence to enrol on a college course.

"We are hoping they will come along and get some training, and this will then give them the confidence to take it further.

"In effect, we want to get them on the first rung of the ladder towards work.''

The garage will eventually become self-sufficient and all profits made will be ploughed back into the venture.

Mrs Ingledew said that the garage would not have been possible without the help and dedication of volunteers who live in the Dene Valley area.

The volunteers have gone from humble beginnings in 1995, when their priority was to provide a minibus for the community to help elderly residents get out and about.

Now they have established a successful One Stop Shop which provides a host of activities and services and its own transport initiative.

Mrs Ingledew said: "We are so proud of everything that we have achieved. We have far exceeded our own expectations.

"When we started out, we wanted to provide a minibus for the residents so we could get some of the elderly from the villages out and about.

"Now we have five minibuses and our own garage. This has been all about the community getting out there and helping themselves.''