A new 'bright and colourful' community centre has opened at the former GP surgery building in Netherfield
The new Netherfield LOCO centre is on Forester Road and offers facilities for young people as well as older local residents.
Trustee Tina Simpson has spoken out about the community effort to get the centre up and running and what it means to members of the community.
She said: "In Netherfield, everyone is very community minded. There's a high population of elderly people and single parent families, it's a multi functional area and old fashioned.
"But if you walk down the road, people will say 'good morning' and 'hello', they'll talk to you."
With artwork hung on the wall made by children from the area, Tina spoke about why it's so important for Netherfield to have somewhere where children can go, she said: "There's nothing for children after school. They may have an after school club but this is somewhere where they can come to evolve and you can only evolve if you have your own social space and to know that most importantly, you're safe."
The community centre caters to young people ages four to 18 mostly, with activities including theatre groups, singing groups, youth services and karate.
There's also rooms available to hire which can be rented out at low prices.
Tina said she feels that children are misunderstood and having a place where they can go to express themselves is important: "You always get people mentioning kids hoodies, saying that they're this and they're that but that's not the case, they just need somewhere to go.
"For seven months I've given up every weekend to come here. We worked all over Christmas for the January 4 opening. My husband had come in to do the electrics, many volunteers helped paint the centre, there's been a whole host of people who have helped."
The community centre is open seven days a week with young people usually dropping in from around 4pm until 9:30pm.
The redevelopment of the site came after the GP surgery relocated to a new building at the former Ashwell Street School site, in Meadow Road in 2020.
Members of the Gedling Forum raised £45,000 for a deposit to pay for Netherfield's old GP practice in Forester Street.
Funding from Assura, Jones Trust, Tesco, Gedling Borough Council and Nottingham County Council helped to get up and running.
After transforming what use to be a consultants' room into a sensory room, there are also kitchen facilities, a soon to be tech room for children and a space where young people can speak to an adult.
Every Thursday at 10:30, 12.15 and 2pm, 'Strong and Steady' classes will be held for the elderly, teaching them movements on how to get up if they've had a fall ran by instructor: Sara Bryant.
Strong and Steady class instructor Sara Bryant said the new community centre is somewhere all people can go, no matter their age.
"It gives people a sense of belonging and people like that no matter what age they are, this is a really trusted and safe environment for the community, there's flat parking outside and it's accessible."
The nearby Netherfield St George's Centre remains open Monday to Fridays.
To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here .
