Longwood Mechanics Hall is is going from strength to strength since being taken over by a new group of dedicated residents in 2005.

Now boasting 4,000 members, it is the go to place for dance events, ping pong tournaments and a broad variety of clubs.

Run by 30 dedicated volunteers seven days a week, it also provides much-needed resources such as a library and cafe and community hub.

It is a far cry from the state of the building in earlier years, which one of the managers, Derek Fairbank, described as ‘derelict.’

Derek, who is one of a team who helped carry out essential modernisations after £100,000successful funding bids, said that it was great to now see the building thrive.

Derek said: “I’ve seen the hall go through a lot of changes and I’m really glad it’s now doing so well.

“We’ve introduced a brilliant community cafe, disabled friendly entrance are making full use of its sprung dance floor and have lots of other improvements planned for the future.”

The Victorian hall has always had a strong self-educational drive, originally founded by a group of men for self-betterment who raised £885 through public subscription to build it.

It was also used as the area’s first school for 140 children before the implementation of the 1870 Education Act.

Men’s and women’s clubs then met in it until the outbreak of the war, when it was taken over by the Royal Signals division.

Despite being left in a bad condition, it was brought back into community use by the Longwood Amateurs, Longwood Community Association and Longwood Dance Group until the 1970s.

However, in the 1970s expensive structural problems proved too much and it was left to several residents to raise funds to carry out the repairs.

Yet, it again fell into disrepair, until its remaining owner, Longwood Community Association, put out a call for volunteers to help restore it to its former glory.

Longwood Village group took over the lease of the building in 2007 and the volunteers put in many hours of hard work to turn it into one of the main focal points in the village.

Talking about importance of the hall, member Robert Kinnish, said: “It means everything to me.

“It’s a great place to meet people and the volunteers are fantastic.”