Legendary 80's music producer opens new community centre in Hetton
Residents in a former mining village in County Durham have welcomed a new community centre, after years of campaigning.
Residents in a former mining village in County Durham have welcomed a new community centre, after years of campaigning.
The new purpose-built hub in Moorsley is built on the site of its former Miners Welfare Hut, first opened in 1926.
Funded by the Big Local programme and Sunderland City Council, the hut will offer clubs and activities for local children, as well as help combat social isolating through community choirs and coffee mornings for the elderly.
It comes after more than 18 years of campaigning and fundraising, including relaunching the hut in a portacabin, after the original was demolished in 2003.
Lead Volunteer Jackie Worthington said: “There is nothing else in the area for people, there are no shops, or pubs, and there is only a bus that passes through to Durham. People need the hub, it is the heart of the community.”
The iconic 80s music producer Trevor Horn cut the ribbon, at a launch event celebrating the hard work of local residents and volunteers.
At the launch, Trevor said: “I first came to this hut 70 years ago, which seems incredible, a lot of my relatives still live here.”
Horn said he would like to record a brass section at Beamish Museum, where the rebuilt colliery and Hetton’s Silver Band Hall is now situated.
As part of the celebrations, Keith Lucas, the great-grandson of one of the original committee members of the welfare hall presented the hut’s original key to the new owners, to celebrate its heritage.