A COMMUNITY centre is promising to deliver a full range of services for both young and elderly residents of a Teesdale village.

The Randolph Centre, in Evenwood, is unusual as it combines a SureStart centre for under-fives, as well as a regular community centre.

The £650,000 scheme involved refurbishing the village's old Victorian community centre, and building a SureStart nursery.

The centre, which was recently opened by Bishop Auckland MP Helen Goodman, already boasts more than 200 regular users.

The centre has been funded by SureStart and is supported by the Evenwood and Ramshaw Community Centre Partnership, which comprises SureStart as well as the other user groups.

Diane Leith, SureStart deputy programme manager, said: "It is quite unusual to have a combined SureStart and community centre, but we wanted to take the holistic approach that children have extended families.

"We wanted to offer a fantastic centre for them too, and so there are com- munity spaces for other age ranges.

"The local colliery in Evenwood was the Randolph Colliery so we've called it the Randolph Centre, as we wanted something that reflected the local community and its history."

The centre incorporates a Neighbourhood Nursery, which offers full day-care for working families.

There are also plans for a creche, where parents could leave their children while they make use of the centre's other facilities.

There are also 'tickle and tumble' and speech and language classes, as well as regular visits by health workers for the under-fives.

There are youth groups, and older users of the centre can take part in education classes and activities such as tai-chi.

Bosses also hope to start up a cinema club and the centre has recently been given a grant from the Children's Fund to train volunteers to provide activities for five to 13-year-olds.

SureStart is also working with other users of the centre such as the Food Co-op to provide health education.

Ms Leith said: "It's all about encouraging healthy eating from nought to 90.

"When she opened the centre, Helen Goodman was very impressed with what it delivers."

Raymond Gibson, Teesdale District Councillor and member of the community centre management committee, said: "They've done a marvellous job.

"The building has been transformed, you can hardly recognise it as the same building to what it was."