A COMMUNITY centre is to get £100,000 for restructuring so that it can give even more to the public.

Christ Church, Accrington, sparked controversy during its last revamp when eight historic stained glass windows were put up for sale to help pay for the work, but this time the money is coming from the government.

SureStart Hyndburn, the Government funded initiative that works to increase opportunities for young children and their parents, has chosen Christ Church's community centre as the location for one of its outreach programmes.

The Accrington programme has been looking for venues in the Fern Gore, Spring Hill, Scaticliffe and Barnfield areas but so far only the latter has been determined.

The total pot of Government money expected to be made available to the outreach sites is £750, 000 but because of recent work already carried out at Christ Church its allocation will be between £100,000 and £120,000.

Ann-Marie Foster, SureStart coordinator, said: "We will be working hand in hand with the church and the other groups already there as this is all about families and communities working together.

"This is a major step forward for us which will enable us to be out in the communities where we can be of the most help."

Plans for the work to be carried out are still in the early stages but one idea is to add an outdoor play area adjoining the existing centre to extend the facilities.

The centre will also provide ante-natal care, advice on employment opportunities for parents and guidance on childcare and other health issues.

The Rev Kevin Logan said: "This £100,000 for restructuring of the church means that it can be used to the full extent for the community's needs and especially for giving children a good start to life.

"It is the answer to our prayers that we can now go into partnership with SureStart who provide the capital to fulfil our dreams of making the church serve the whole community."

The current community centre at the church, off Manchester Road, came about after a parish audit to look into the needs for the local community which is home to a lot of elderly residents as well as 'home-alone' children. It was opened last year after Mr Logan helped motivate parishioners and the community to raise funds for improvements.

But at one point even the historic church windows were advertised for sale on the internet to raise cash, although the move was blocked by a special church court hearing after a storm of protest.