Real Deal Plus 'excited to see work starting soon' on Ashington Life Centre back entrance after winning grant

The charity, which runs Ashington Life Centre at the former police station building on Station Road, supports vulnerable people of all ages in the area by providing food parcels, mental health support, life skills training, work experience, and more.

This funding will allow the group to remove old brickwork and a series of rusted garage doors at the back of the building, then install new entrance gates to improve access and security for its outdoor community space.

Kathryn Falcus, general manager at Real Deal Plus, said: "We took over the old police station nine years ago and have made lots of improvements to the building’s exterior since then, but we have not yet been able to afford to give the rear of the building the attention it needs.

“The outdoor space we have there is very well used for a lot of different activities, but the surroundings are rather an eyesore and the old garage doors that we have to use to gain access do not make it easy for everyone to get in.

“Putting a new set of access gates will make it easy for everyone to enter the area when we are open, provide a much nicer view for our neighbours, and help keep the building much more secure.

“We are excited to see work starting soon and have lots of plans for celebration events when everything has been completed, at which we would love to see more local people joining us.”

The £10,000 grant comes from property developer Banks Group’s community fund.

A previous grant from the fund in 2017 helped build a concrete ramp, lay block paving, and restore railing removed during the Second World War at the front of the building.

Kathryn said: "With demand for our core services rising all the time, along with the cost of providing them, making these changes would have been well beyond us without Banks stepping up to support our work once again.

“We are really grateful that they have been able to make another very generous contribution to our work.”

Jamilah Hassan, community relations manager at the Banks Group, added: “Real Deal Plus reaches so many different parts of the local community and offers unwavering support to people across south east Northumberland when they need it the most.

"We have worked in this part of the county for well over four decades, and this is the latest in a long line of hugely worthwhile community projects that we are proud to have been able to support."

Ashington-based AME Building Contractors have been commissioned to carry out the work, which is due to start in June and hoped to be completed by the start of the school summer holiday.

Real Deal Plus has a number of events and activities planned in the coming months, in addition to the dance studio, coffee bar, community café, foodbank, youth programme, furniture supply scheme, job club, and more it runs regularly with the help of over 50 volunteers.