AN educational centre in the heart of a Chester-le-Street estate has been given a new look before re-opening its doors.

The Foundation of Light – the charitable arm of Sunderland AFC – runs educational programmes from the Centre of Light unit, based on the town’s Gibside estate.

The foundation, working in partnership with housing association Karbon Homes, has delivered employability, social inclusion and health programmes from the centre since 2009.

The partnership encourages and engages young people and adults from around the area to participate in educational programmes such as Family Learning, Tackle It workshops, ‘Kicks’, drop in evenings and activity days.

Sunderland AFC goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter and defender Alim Ozturk visited the centre to meet participants and members of staff and to officially re-open the new centre.

A large proportion of the costs to refurbish the centre, which includes full painting and re-decorating, new carpets throughout, new desks, chairs and computer equipment, was covered by one of Karbon’s heating manufacturers, Ideal Boilers, which donated£4,200.

The foundation uses the power of football and the Sunderland brand and badge to deliver a range of employability, social inclusion and health programmes to over 30,000 children and adults a year.

Since opening its doors on the Gibside estate, the Foundation has engaged with over 2,500 children and adults and hope to continue engaging with even more from the new facility.

Jessica Wray, community involvement and investment officer at Karbon Homes, said: “It is fantastic to see the Centre of Light given a new lease of life and I hope many residents will be encouraged to access these services.”

Craig Martin from the Foundation of Light, said: “We’re delighted to see the Centre of Light refurbished after being well used by people from the local community over the years.

“The Gibside Centre of Light has long been established as a place where people from all over the estate can come to learn new skills, meet new people and have fun thanks to the continued support of Karbon.

“The refurbishment has made it even more inviting than before and we look forward to welcoming even more people through its doors in the coming years.”