A children’s play centre in Twickenham will be able to stay open thanks the support and generosity of the local community.

Marble Hill Playcentres, which has been around since 1975, was facing closure due to massive funding cuts from the council. Since 2001, funding has gone from £27,000 to an expected £18,000 this year.

The Playcentres, which used to be controlled by the Greater London Council and later Richmond Council, was transferred to the voluntary sector in 2000.

In 2005, it became a charity run by a group of local parents who wanted to save it from closure.

This year, the cuts became too much.

In a letter to families in January, organisers sent out a desperate appeal explaining that because of the “critical financial position” they would be “simply unable to continue beyond November without help”.

The letter received an “incredible” response. As a result a new board of trustees has formed, seven of which are new members.

The Playcentres also received donations to get it back on its feet and is able to open again on April 3, with a pre-launch party being held this Saturday, March 24.

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A statement with the good news read: “We are grateful for the support offered by Hampton Fuel Allotments Charity and Richmond Parish Lands Charity, whose intervention in this crisis has given us some much needed time to get things right and prepare for the future, as well as the St Margaret’s Fair Charity who came forward at a critical time with a donation.”

The new board chairwoman, Katy Grieves, feels “hopeful” about the future.

She said: “It’s been so heart-warming to see everyone come together to try to save the Playcentres as it’s such a lovely place.

“20 years ago the first parents saved it by changing it into a charity and now we want to save it again.

“We’ve got a really good chance too.”

Katy explained some of the changes that have and will be made to “make the facility sustainable” and “less dependent on grants”.

This includes renting out the venue when it’s not being used and longer opening hours.

The centre, which holds children’s parties, has an adventure playground, and a one o’clock club for 0 to fives, will be open until five instead of four during the week and at weekends from 10am to 12pm.

There will also be family days on the first Saturday of every month- the space is generally a parent free zone monitored by play workers- to allow children who may be more hesitant at first to explore in comfort.

But it will take a lot of work to keep the Playcentres going.

Katy added: “People don’t use the great facilities on their doorsteps often enough, but are upset when they’re gone.

“We don’t want that to happen here- the Playcentres has unlimited potential.”

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