VERWOOD residents have met to discuss the new hub' of the town that is on schedule to be opened next Easter.

Nearly 100 people turned out on a very hot summer evening to adopt a constitution for the new Verwood Community Centre, which will be known as the Verwood Hub, when it opens in April 2007.

And it is hoped the new facility will soon become the centre for community activities for everyone.

Many of those attending the meeting had studied the draft constitution and contributed to discussions leading to the approval of the inaugural trustees, who will form a management committee to see the project through to its opening.

The committee is hoping to register as a charity to enable it to form a business unit by September.

Project milestones up to the opening will include recruitment and appointment of a manager for the Hub, selection of catering staff and training of staff and volunteers, ahead of the opening.

The meeting also endorsed the name chosen by the project steering group.

Two Verwood residents put forward the "Hub" suggestion in response to a scheme held earlier in the year to find a suitable title for the town's new landmark structure.

Bill Eggleston, a member of the steering group, said the new centre would finally give people the chance to go out in their own town.

"At the moment if you want to do something you have to leave Verwood and for the first time we are going to have something that says come to Verwood," he told the Forest Journal.

"Personally, I think that is the biggest factor of the project for me."

Local folk can find out more about their new community centre by visiting the Verwood Hub stand at the rustic fair, held in Potterne Park, on Bank Holiday Monday, August 28.

Copies of the constitution are available at the library, the town council office and on the town council website at www.verwood.gov.uk.