A NEW community centre, which hopes to become the heart of Malmesbury and beyond, proved to be a hit with locals following the official opening.

Dozens of group committed to using the affordable space at the Wiltshire Council funded Riverside Community Centre, based on Gloucester Road, weeks ago but it was officially handed over to the Friends of Riverside, the local group running the centre, by council leader Baroness Jane Scott of Bybrook on Friday morning.

She said: "Wiltshire Council has provided this building with an investment of around £250,000. That funding is part of our overall investment to deliver health and wellbeing centres and community hubs across the county. We are rationalising older, out of date and more costly buildings to deliver a wide range of public and voluntary services in vibrant, fit-for-purpose spaces creating a focal point for the local community.

"The organising committee has done a great job and I’d like to say a really big thank you to the Friends for their time and commitment to preparing and running the centre.

"The Friends are local volunteers who have given countless hours to making this building come to life and will, I’m certain, continue to work really hard behind the scenes to build on their success so far."

The building, which backs onto Malmesbury Skate Park, has a main hall, an upper hall, an arts and crafts room, three meeting rooms and a cafe, all with free WiFi, that can be hired from as little as £6.

Riverside chairman Kim Power said: "We are delighted to be given the opportunity to run this centre because it is such a great opportunity for the people of Malmesbury and it is in such a great location. We have had open days, sessions and courses and last week we even had 46 babies in the main hall.

"I would like to say a final thank you to everyone for being part of Riverside Community Centre and that myself and all the trustees here will do our very best to make sure the centre is successful and well used."

To mark the official opening, a launch night for under 21-year-olds with live music from The Dustbowl Children, Big Happy Forever and Socket will be held in the main hall from 4.30pm on Saturday and musician Barney Kenny said the concept was exciting.

"It is nice to give something back to Malmesbury," the 22-year-old said. "It is such a tough demographic to crack but it will pay off hopefully."

To find out more information about the Riverside Community Centre, visit www.riversidecommunitycentre.org.uk.