WATCHET Phoenix - the charity which rose from the ashes of the Red Cross's activities in the town - has bought its Esplanade base to secure the building for future generations.

A team of trustees - aged from 69 to nearly 90 and dubbed the Magnificent Seven - has led a five-year campaign of fundraising which, boosted by generous donations from local people, led to the contract being signed on the sale last Friday.

And for the band of community stalwarts who fought to keep the former Red Cross building open when the charity announced it was surplus to requirements six years ago, the purchase is the realisation of a dream.

Trustees' chairman Jean Howe said the Phoenix had leased its base from the Red Cross for a peppercorn rent since 2005.

"We always wanted to buy it for Watchet and it is such a relief that we have now been able to do so," said Mrs Howe.

"This building will never be sold - it will always be here and hopefully will always provide a service for the people of Watchet."

The Phoenix was launched to promote the well-being of elderly and frail people in the wider West Somerset area by providing a range of services to meet their needs.

Its aim was also to deliver community-based activities which would reduce people's social isolation and enable them to maintain their independence.

One of the most important services formerly provided by the Phoenix leaders under the Red Cross banner was a regular luncheon club where a wide range of people - from stroke victims to dementia sufferers - were able to meet, eat and afterwards enjoy anything from community singing to a bingo session.

The Phoenix has carried on the tradition and currently holds three luncheon clubs a week, catering for around 100 people in total.

Diners come not just from Watchet but also from Roadwater, Williton, Washford, Chapel Cleeve, Blue Anchor and Doniford.

Other services provided by the Phoenix include regular outings and twice-yearly holidays.

And the trustees, who are helped by an army of volunteers, also open on Christmas Day to provide a traditional feast and festivities for local elderly, lonely and vulnerable people.

To fund the running of the building, organisers sell handicrafts, hold coffee mornings, provide catering for events and gatherings and always welcome donations.

And they do not even restrict their fundraising activities to boosting their own coffers, having raised thousands of pounds over the years for disasters ranging from the 2004 tsunami in Thailand to the recent earthquake in Haiti.

The Esplanade building has been bought for an undisclosed figure and although the Phoenix has enough funds to pay for it outright, the sale has left the charity with scant reserves.

And estimated running costs are put at around £1,500 a month.

Treasurer Donald Butterworth said: "We have recently appointed a part-time centre manager, we have changed the heating and there will always be other things that need replacing or repairing.

"We desperately need more donations to cover our ongoing costs. People have been so generous in the past and we hope that will continue."

The seven trustees came together through their connection to the Red Cross, an organisation of which they are life members, most having clocked up around 50 years of service.

The building now run by the Phoenix was built as a Red Cross centre in 1964, with extensions added later.

But the £38,000 cost was funded entirely through local fundraising.

"It didn't cost the Red Cross a penny, so in many ways we have actually paid twice for it," said Mrs Howe.

"It's been hard work but we are not here to make money - just to give a service and we know there is a great need for it.

"We all started this together and we love it, but we do need some younger people to come on board now and play their part.

"The success of what happens in this building has been down to years and commitment and friendship."

Fellow trustee Fay Ross-Ward said: "It's been team work with a good leader. We're just like a big family."

And trustee Jess Norman added: "Times will change but this building will remain for the use of the people of Watchet, which is all we wanted."

"I am continually telling young children to keep their hands away from their eyes and mouths," he said.