BLACKBURN'S YMCA is to herald a new beginning in a new home with a celebration of its past.

The YMCA has secured a three year lease on offices in Wellington Street St Johns, after being forced to sell its home of nearly 40 years in Clarence Street which had become a "financial noose" around the organisation's neck.

Chief executive Ian Sadler said the organisation now has time to "re-group and re-think". And with the help of a £24,700 Heritage Lottery Fund grant and a group of young volunteers, it will now research the history of the Young Men's Christian Association in Blackburn since it was founded in 1896.

The local youngsters will not only be able to hone their skills as researchers but also as reporters, film-makers and web-site designers with findings being revealed on the YMCA website and in a short video.

Already the 12 teenagers, aged 13 to 17, have unearthed a whole page of writing by Jimmy Savile in a visitors' book and discovered that former Prime Minister Harold Wilson once visited the Blackburn YMCA.

The project will also research the lives of people who have been involved with the YMCA over the years by finding and interviewing those still alive who remember the YMCA in its early days.

Mr Sadler, said: "We have been in Blackburn now for almost 110 years and in that time many people have worked with us on a variety of different projects.

"It is wonderful to have this grant so we can research our role in the town and produce exhibitions and leaflets about what the YMCA has done.

"Hopefully it will attract more people through our doors as we have had a considerable period of turmoil recently trying to find a suitable base to operate from after selling Edinburgh House.

"This project will recognise our past achievements so we can move on at a new site and in new directions."

Mandy Parker, who is heading the project, said she was sure it would not only be fascinating for the children involved and the local community but also would provide the youngsters with skills that they can then apply to the world of work.

She said: "They are full of ideas and keen to get started.

"We are travelling down to London to do some research at the central YMCA and only one of them has been to London before so we are hoping to combine our research with a spot of sightseeing.

"I am sure this will be a rewarding project for everyone involved and give them lots of new skills."