HASLINGDEN folk are to have a fully equipped resource centre, thanks to a £138,000 grant from the National Lotteries Charity Board.

Now the hunt is on for a suitable building to include meeting rooms, training facilities with the use of hi-tech equipment and a drop-in centre.

Members of the town's community forum, set up as part of the Action for Haslingden five-year regeneration scheme, were delighted at the news.

Chairman Andrew Bridge said: "We are over the moon. It took a lot of hard work from many people to put together an application which would benefit everyone in Haslingden.''

The centre will be available to any community or voluntary group in Haslingden, in a central location with car parking and access for the disabled.

The money must be used within the year to buy, renovate and equip a town centre building to, hopefully, get matching funding from the Action for Haslingden Partnership and English Partnerships.

The scheme has the backing of Rossendale Council, the Youth Service and other public and private sector bodies.

Beth Logan, community link officer for the Action for Haslingden Partnership added: "It is a really exciting development for the town.''

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