A CARHAMPTON committee is calling on local people and businesses to help raise funds for its recreation centre by the end of October – otherwise it stands to lose a £10,000 grant.

Now members of the Carhampton Recreation Centre committee are holding a special open day on Thursday (September 15) at the centre.

They are hoping people will come along to find out more and help them raise the £5,000 – £6,000 they need to “bring the changing rooms into the 21st century” and provide more healthy sports activities for people of all ages.

“Over the past six years or so, the committee have been busy bringing this valuable community centre back to life,” said chairman Pat Graham.

“Lots of decorating and maintenance work has been done and, thanks to a lottery grant, a brand new modern kitchen was installed.”

It meant the centre could host everything from village breakfasts to barn dances and community markets, as well as give people the chance to try activities, from badminton to self defence classes, in the sports hall.

The committee’s next big target was to do up the centre’s changing rooms and provide sports activities to encourage more people of all ages to join in healthy exercise.

It won a £10,000 grant towards this from the £7.2 million Community Impact Mitigation Fund (CIM), part of a legal agreement between West Somerset and EDF for Hinkley C.

Planning permission for the new changing rooms was granted, but the committee is struggling to find an additional £5,000 - £6,000 it needs to undertake the work.

And its chance to take up the CIM grant will run out by the end of October if it cannot raise the funds.

“We have brought the centre back to life, now we just need to bring the changing rooms into the 21st century. They are so old they are not usable,” said Pat.

“We have some money from our own kitty and have tried many avenues of grant funding, but so far we have not been successful – everyone wants funding.

“We are now looking into other ways of raising the money either by sponsorship from local businesses or individuals who are able to pledge a donation or make a public subscription or Ioan.”

The Carhampton Recreation Centre committee open day is from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday, September 15.