A £150,000 fundraising appeal has been launched to save a village playgroup by building a new community room.

Fountains Playgroup has been based in a dilapidated, temporary, second-hand cabin at Fountains Primary School, in Grantley, near Ripon, for eight years.

The building is shabby and difficult to heat and the roof is in need of repair.

Residents of all the villages in the Fountains parish - Sawley, Risplith, Aldfield, Winksley, Studley Royal, Galphay and Grantley - have now come together to form a fundraising team.

They want to raise £150,000 to build a permanent community room in Grantley.

It would house the playgroup as well as youth groups, an Internet cafe, pensioners' clubs and before and after-school care.

People living in the area say the facility is desperately needed as the parish has suffered from cutbacks in public transport and the closure of village shops, pubs and post offices.

There has also been an increase in the number of working parents who desperately need affordable, good quality childcare.

Members of the fundraising team have managed to gather £10,000 from sponsored walks, a lottery draw and a barn dance.

And they have won the support of the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Right Reverend John Packer, and Ripon MP David Curry, who have agreed to be patrons of the appeal.

The first major event organised by the fundraising team is an auction of promises on Saturday, October 16.

Lots include an original cartoon by Rolf Harris, signed photos of David Beckham and Michael Owen and a flight in a fighter jet.

One of the organisers, Elizabeth Metcalfe, said: "We are grateful to people's generosity particularly to local firms like Ripon's Moonglu bike specialists who have generously donated a valuable new adult Marin 7005 mountain bike.

"We also have many quirky lots such as a butler and chef for the evening, a load of manure and even some prize bull semen."

The event will take place in Grantley Village Hall at 7.30pm.

Admission is £2 for adults and 50p for children. Programmes are available from Elizabeth Metcalfe on (01765) 650449.