BBC TV'S Children in Need and the National Lottery may fund part of a new £230,000 Jinnah community centre and young women's development centre in Burnley, county councillors will be told.

The long-established Asian community development service in Daneshouse wants to quit its rented Abel Street offices and buy and develop three adjoining vacant houses on the same street.

Jinnah has applied for a one-off £15,000 grant from county council towards the £48,000 cost of purchase and refurbishmentin phase one of the scheme.

A report to the policy and resources committee says a similar application is being made to Burnley Council.

Phase two will entail modification and refurbishment of the premises to house a completely new young women's resource and development centre which would have separate access from the remainder of the premises.

The report says it is envisaged the young women's centre will require capital costs of £70,000 to establish and running costs of £110,000 over three years.

Jinnah hopes the centre will be fully operational by January 2001 and that bids to the National Lottery and Children in Need will meet full costs of the women's project the report adds.

The community group, which receives an annual county grant of around £5,000, says its present offices are in a very poor state of repair, increasingly costly to maintain and would not be capable of accommodating the proposed women's centre.

Councillors are being asked to defer the grant application pending more inquiries about the financial viability of the project.

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