A COMMUNITY centre is using a lottery grant to carry out improvements.

Delves Lane Village Hall, near Consett, was awarded £8,638 from the Big Lottery Fund, which will be used to refurbish the kitchen and install new flooring in the kitchen and toilets.

The centre’s management team hope it will encourage more local people to use the facility.

Big Lottery Fund spokesman James Harcourt said: “We are proud to give National Lottery money to local projects that make a difference in their communities.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, Delves Lane Community Association will be able to bring the community together in much improved facilities.”

The hall is managed by Delves Lane Community Association, a charity that is working with Durham Community Action (DCA) to increase the usage of the hall and make it more sustainable for future generations.

The community association runs a successful lunch club from the centre, which attracts over 40 regular attendees and aims to tackle the social isolation people may encounter due to the loss of services and public transport links in the local area.

Young people from the Foundation of Light Youth Club at the centre were consulted on how to increase the hall’s usage and proposed the recent Halloween party to bring together the different generations.

Craig Martin, Foundation of Light North and Central Durham Coordinator said: “Younger members of the group also gained valuable experience of volunteering and organisational strategies than can be utilised as transferable skills.”