The community of Mile End is set to benefit following a £385,000 grant which will help bring a hall into the 21st century.

Work on modernising and expanding Myland Parish Halls, in Mile End Road, is due to start next summer following a Big Lottery Fund grant – and is expected to increase the number of people using it from 500 people a week to 900.

The money will be used to modernise and extend the existing building to create a multi-function hall with extra facilities such as toilets, a kitchen and central heating.

A host of local groups have responded to local fundraising efforts to help boost the total and have so far raised £109,000. Efforts are now under way to collect a further £69,000.

Huw Edwards, chairman of the Myland Parish Halls Modernisation Project, said: “We are extremely pleased and very excited about this award from the Big Lottery Fund.

“All through the application process, we truly believed that ours was a project which would provide real tangible benefits for the people of Myland, Colchester.

“We are hugely encouraged to know we have external validation of this."

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