A COMMUNITY centre that was threatened with closure has undergone a refurbishment and is looking forward to relaunching tomorrow.

Thanks to the hard work of staff and volunteers, and £14,000 funding from Bradford Council, Bolton Woods Community Centre is hoping for a bright future.

The venue, which is on Livingstone Road and run by the Bolton Woods and District Association, now has a new community hub, coffee shop and play gym, as well as the cash to continue the community development provision based at the centre for another year.

Now, staff want it to become the heartbeat of the community, where people can meet and suggest ideas for local activities.

Cath Taylor, community co-ordinator, helped spruce the venue up - which first opened in 1983 - and said one of the aims of the coffee shop and gym was to help the centre be more self-sufficient.

"We would have been looking at closing towards the end of the year," she said. "We have put in mechanisms to try and save it - we are not out of the woods yet."

She added: "We need people to support the centre and use it, and work with us to develop community activities.

"It is kind of like a new beginning in some respects."

On the refurbishment, she said: "It has been a hands-on thing, all hands on deck doing things like painting and decorating. Like many other community centres, we were at crisis point in terms of funding.

"As an association we know times have been hard and are not getting any easier. We always existed on grants and funding streams, but with cutbacks it is not there anymore.

"So we decided to take a more business-minded approach. The coffee shop and gym will be income generator."

Sarahjane Naylor, who is a community development worker at the centre, said: "We have managed to secure funding from the Council to continue the community development provision based at the centre - a real positive.

"As a part of my job, I will be supporting the development and mainly supporting the local community to get involved and help to shape the new Community Hub into what they actually want in the area.

"We have a blank slate in terms of the Community Hub. This is exciting and is a chance to create a whole new relationship with the community.

"I will be going door-to-door and chatting with all in the local area, to get input and make them aware of the Hub and the potential for them to use it and steer it."

The centre's relaunch event is tomorrow between 11am and 5pm. There will be free face painting and activities, as well as the opening of the Hub, coffee shop and gym.