Centre saved after volunteers say they will take over the cleaning

A COMMUNITY centre faced with closure has been saved after volunteers agreed to pay for the cost of cleaning it themselves.

The management committee of Colinton Mains Community Centre had to find 5,000 of savings in order to stay open – so they offered to take over the cost of cleaning the centre, which the city council was previously responsible for.

The centre was one of three that council officials had wanted to close that were saved at an education committee meeting.

Gorgie Memorial Hall is also to stay open after being given a last-ditch reprieve, while Longstone Community Centre will continue to operate after an after-schools club agreed to manage the centre's running costs.

The news has been welcomed by campaigners that fought to keep the centres open.

Peggy Wright, secretary of the Colinton Mains Community Centre, said: "This is a brilliant result. We've worked really hard for this and if we're now coming out the other side it is great news. We agreed to arrange the cleaning ourselves. If necessary, we will also do some of the cleaning ourselves in the holidays. It will save the council 5,000 but it will cost us. But we will be able to meet it out of our lets."

The centre is now expected to increase the cost it charges groups to hire.

Income from lets generally goes towards any equipment used for the centre but will now also have to pay for cleaning.

Tory local councillor Jason Rust, convener of the Pentlands Neighbourhood Partnership, said: "This is a great result and a great credit to the local community.

It is so important that communities do stand up for local centres and do not take closure lying down."

The original proposals recommended by council officials would have seen six community centres close down in order to save 345,000.

The centres at Sighthill and Platform will still close, with services relocated to the Westburn Learning Campus. And The Number Shop on the Pleasance will also shut, with its services moving to the South Bridge Resource Centre, despite a late bid by Tory and Green councillors to save it amid concerns about the impact that losing its "high visibility" base would have.

Councillor Marilyne MacLaren, the city's education leader, said: "We have seen there will be a whole range of different ways of working, of people taking responsibility for centres and for letting them out. Traditionally, there has been a salami-slicing approach (to savings] and I have always thought this weakens the service.

"The whole aim of this is to protect the service and make sure it is sustainable in future. I do not want the serious economic crisis to kill off community learning and development – I want to sustain it."