'Vital' north west projects get £4.6m boost

The final £4.6m payout of a state grant scheme could enable the charity Zoe's Place to build a new baby hospice in Liverpool.

The charity is one of several "vital" community projects in the north west to benefit from the final injection of cash from the government's £150m Community Ownership Fund.

Zoe's Place will get £1m towards building a new hospice while cash will also be given to other projects like the renovation of Elmfield Hall in Accrington and the restoration of the East Lancashire Railway.

Alex Norris, minister for local growth, said the grants were to help "preserve and upgrade what these vital places offer to their communities".

The fund was set up in 2021 to help communities take control of local assets that were at risk and it will close in March next year.

Liverpool-based Zoe's Hospice, whose staff provide respite and end-of-life care for babies and children up to the age of five, narrowly avoided closure earlier this year.

The funding it has been given will go towards building a new hospice specifically for babies.

Elsewhere, some £400,000 will go towards the renovation of Elmfield Hall, a Grade II listed site that was the home of Victorian industrialist Frederick Albert Gatty, who helped invent new dyes.

The cash will help to secure the future use of the building as a "vital community hub", said those behind the project.

More than £1m will also go to volunteers at the East Lancashire Railway Trust to support the restoration of High Woodhill Viaduct.

The bridge and its arches were built in about 1845 and have been the subject of a fundraising campaign.

Greenacres Community Centre in Oldham is to use about £300,000 from the grant for repairs at its base on Galland Street.

About £250,000 will go towards refurbishing Mercer Hall in Great Harwood, Lancashire, which is named after scientist John Mercer who invented the "Mercerised" cotton cloth.

Hyndburn Leisure will get cash to improve the leisure facility to include a large multi-use hall, community and wellbeing rooms, toilets and changing rooms, a café and bar area and storage spaces.

Meanwhile, Hare Hill House, a historical Georgian residence in Littleborough that has been turned into a community arts centre, is set to receive £337,00 for refurbishment work.

Prenton Rugby Club, in Wirral, was due to be handed £850,000 to redevelop facilities and put on more activities for the community.

The Brick Works anti-poverty centre in Wigan will get £274,00 to continue offering its services.