PRESTON'S ground-breaking Pukar group has been officially opened by Preston MP Audrey Wise.

The group, situated in Oakham Court, helps disabled people from ethnic minorities become more involved in the community.

Mrs Wise said: "The Pukar Centre is very valuable to the town because it's for people with disabilities and disabilities can be very isolating.

"It has a special emphasis on people from ethnic minority communities. They can have a double dose of isolation because in a minority it is very easy to become isolated.

"Pukar actually means voice and what I think the group will do is give disabled people the opportunity to find a voice with each other and collectively within the community.

"The more we have organisations like this in Preston, the richer the town will be in community spirit."

Poppy Tanna, manager of the centre, has spent a year and a half getting the group where it is now.

She said: "Things have been going excellently at the centre. We have 15 people visiting the centre regularly at the moment and 42 more on the waiting list.

"They come here and learn literacy, numeracy, art and craft skills. We are also a drop-in centre for them and there's a surgery run by the DSS every fortnight.

"But we still need funds to keep going so that we can pay salaries to our staff. We have three volunteers at the moment and need more people to cope with our waiting list."

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer at the centre, or helping sponsor the group, should contact Poppy on (01772) 822700.

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