A LONGRIDGE community centre has undergone an extensive renovation thanks to thousands of pounds in donations.

The Welcome café, which offers a wide range of activities, services and support to residents of Longridge and Shaw Heath, reopened earlier this month after volunteers gave it a fresh lick of paint.

Having been open since 1995, with more than 25 volunteers giving their time to help run it, it is now hoped that The Welcome’s new look can help bring in more who need its help.

Marie Fox, operations manager, said: “We are attracting more people. We did a survey last year door-to-door and people were saying that the place needed renovating. And it did – it was depressing, why would you want to go and sit there?

“We took that on board and said ‘let’s see if we can’t get some money to do the place up’.

“Since then people are saying it’s far brighter and very different. The more people we have, the more it will help us self-sustain and offer services.

“We don’t have money from anyone other than donations, and the café just about sustains itself. People can turn up if they have a problem – the best place to come is us. If we can’t help, then we will find someone who can.”

Most of the funding came off the back of a lunch hosted at the centre by its patron, George Osborne, which helped bring in around £38,000 - including a sizeable donation from Oliver Valves Ltd.

He said: “I know from my many visits what an incredible job the Welcome café does as a centre of community life on Longridge. This renovation gives it a whole new lease of life. It’s a real achievement by the team and a credit to the support they get from the wider community in Knutsford.”

Paint was supplied by Dulux in Altrincham, and a surprise addition to the to-do list was a new ceiling, which was re-plastered for free following a Facebook appeal after parts collapsed during painting works.

Visit thewelcome.org.uk