STAFF at a Leigh day nursery have had an overwhelming response from volunteers keen to see a families Contact Centre get off the ground by next Easter.

The Stonehouse Day Nursery which appealed for volunteers to run the weekend centre as a safe, neutral place for children of broken families to meet their absent parent, have now enrolled 33 volunteers.

It was expected that the centre, whose aim is to create a stress free zone to help both parents and children develop their relationship, would have been able to move forward with 20 volunteers.

But a special meeting exceeded all expectations.

Margaret Tucker, Manager of the Day Nursery, said: "I am delighted by the response to our appeal which means that what was only a hope can now in time become reality.

" The next move is for the Steering Committee to set about planning the training of the new volunteers, and then we can start planning the actual launch of the new Centre, maybe as early as next Easter."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.