Great Eccleston Village Centre^®

The Great Eccleston Village Centre is a Charitable organisation, established in early 2001 and formally opened on 29th June 2001 by HRH The Princess Royal.

The Centre serves a predominantly rural community; with a catchment area that includes the villages of Great Eccleston, Little Eccleston with Larbreck, Elswick and a large and dispersed farming community.

The objects of the Charity include the promotion and encouragement of social, educational and leisure activities, information technology, community support and similar services. The Centre provides both casual drop-in and more formally organised facilities for the benefit of the community of Great Eccleston and the surrounding areas.

At the time of opening in 2001 the Centre comprised approximately 240m² of internal floor area of the current two storey premises at 59 High Street, Great Eccleston:

• Ground Floor: L-shaped lounge, kitchen, disabled toilet, office, storage;
• 1st Floor: training room, UK on-line networked IT suite, toilets, storage.

At the rear of the premises is a 400m² award-winning community garden. The Ground Floor, 1st Floor and Garden facilities have full disabled access.

During 2004, the premises were extended and upgraded as part of two capital investment projects. The extension provided an additional 50m² Activity Room on the 1st floor, plus 32m² office space and 12m² storage area on the new 2nd floor. The upgrading programme increased the IT suite capacity from 8 to 12 students, provided flat-screen monitors to improve individual desk space and improved the Internet Broadband connectivity.

Over the past few years the Centre has successfully introduced a wide range of events, courses and workshops, as well as providing a meeting place for a substantial number of community groups including Parish Council, History Group, Art Group, Flower Club etc.

In addition, the Centre has developed partnerships with local colleges, health authorities and many other training providers to deliver a variety of courses ranging from Information Technology, Languages, Yoga and Pilates, through to a highly successful Pulmonary Rehabilitation programme.

The current programme of activities is extremely well-supported and during 2008 the Centre seeks to further extend the range and quantity of opportunities offered in response to clearly identified needs.