The Ambassador of Qatar was among the guests attending the official opening a Bradford community centre and mosque.

Scores of people attended the opening of the Claremont Community Centre and the Doha Mosque in Claremont, Great Horton, opposite the University of Bradford yesterday.

Joining the Ambassador for the ribbon-cutting ceremony was the Deputy Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Elaine Byrom, Bradford Council's chief executive Tony Reeves and Ian Greenwood, leader of the Council's Labour group.

The centre is the fruition of years of work by volunteers, the Council, Bradford Trident and the Government Office of Yorkshire and the Humber.

The grade II listed building was once almost derelict and because of problems with the roof the building was substantially damaged by rain water which seeped into every floor.

Now the modern centre offers a diverse range of community activities for a wide variety of people, including courses such as computing for beginners, beauty care, English and Arabic language courses.

Its director Naila Hussain, said: "Our core purpose is for the Claremont Community Centre to act as a catalyst to develop the educational, employment and social potential of people in this local area and across the district of Bradford."

She said the aim was to promote positive understanding and good relationships between diverse communities.

"We truly are a success story because we have taken an unused building in an area which is important to the city of Bradford," she said.

The centre works in partnership with Accent Community Partnerships, the NHS and the University of Bradford and is rapidly becoming a dynamic community base.

Shahad Ramadani, 22, is a trustee of the Community Centre, and has helped to create the centre since she was ten.

She said: "It's wonderful to celebrate today, because it has been such hard work and people have put so much effort in, but we've had our ups and downs.

"The centre will be such a benefit not only to the people of Great Horton but to the people from all across the area, we already have people coming from as far as Ilkley and Bingley who use the services."

Miss Ramadani said it was great to be involved with such a multi-cultural place.

"We wanted this to be a mosque and a community centre, working together - not just a place for prayer, but for learning and social development," she said.

e-mail: ali.davies @bradford.newsquest.co.uk