THE dream of a new community centre in Hyde, near Fordingbridge, has become a reality and it will be opening its doors on Sunday.

The centre, which cost £300,000, has been built on the site of the 40 year-old pre-fabricated building that had previously served as a community centre.

The Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, Hallam Mills, will join the Bishop of Southampton, the Rt Reverend Dr Jonathan Frost, to officially open the new community centre in the grounds of Hyde's Church of the Holy Ascension.

Over the past few years Hyde Church's active team of dedicated fundraisers, spearheaded by Rev Jenny Alidina and her husband Naj, worked tirelessly to turn this vision for the community into a reality.

Heather Clark of The Church of the Holy Ascension Hyde with Ibsley, said: “This centre and its wonderful facilities has been a dream of the whole community for many years.

“Now it is complete, everyone is looking forward to it becoming a focus for a wide range of events and activities and I would like to take the opportunity to say big 'thank you' to everyone who helped make our dream come true.”

The timber-faced brick building is fully accessible to people with disabilities and limited mobility and parents and carers with pushchairs. It has a meeting room which can be divided into two, plus a kitchen and toilets.

Its upstairs room, earmarked for young people, can also be used as a separate meeting room as it has its own entrance and facilities. The centre is now available for the whole community to use as well as it being home, each day, to Hyde Pre-school.

It also features an energy-efficient air-source heat-pump heating system, up-to-date insulation and double-glazed windows, which will cut its environmental impact and reduce running costs. The majority of funds for the project, in the region of £200,000, came from the community itself in the form of bequests, individual donations and the proceeds of fundraising events such as a concert at Somerley House with Dame Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg.

The Veolia Environmental Trust also awarded £36,699 through the Landfill Communities Fund. Further grants were received from Hampshire Community Buildings Fund, Grant Weston, New Forest National Park (Sustainability Fund), Hyde Christian Charitable Trust and All Churches Trust.