Volunteers have been busy turning a sports pavilion in Wattsville into a hub for the community.

Wattsville Community Group, a charity initially set up by Wattsville Football Club, is hoping to revitalise the pavilion, which could host activities such as coffee mornings, yoga, fitness classes and more.

One half of the pavilion was used as changing rooms for the football club, while the other half was used by a youth club once a week. Now, the community group is in the process of revamping the building and plans are in place to create a whole timetable of events.

The group was formed at the beginning of the year by Wayne Brinkley, Steven Prosser, Joanne Beach and Shane Bowen.

Mr Brinkley, a trustee of the group, said: “In conjunction with Wattsville FC and Wattsville Youth Club, we have spent over £16,000 on upgrading the building – which has included new patio doors and security shutters, a storage container, fencing to the rear, new flooring, CCTV, new windows, fitted furniture, new tables and completely redecorating the interior of the main hall.

“We have also been awarded a grant by the Welsh Church Fund, which has enabled us to buy additional equipment for the youth club and the new mothers and toddlers group.”

Mr Brinkley added: “As a whole the community has fully supported us, with many of them making donations to our JustGiving page and several local residents have also volunteered to help with the renovations.”

Meanwhile, the group’s Facebook page has gathered more than 800 likes. Mr Brinkley said the Facebook page has allowed members of the group to engage with the community.

He said: “From this engagement we have been made aware of the parking issue the neighbouring residents have, so our future plans are to extend the pavilion car park allowing more parking spaces for residents and users of the pavilion.”

Recently, the group was granted a licence to sell alcohol and play recorded music at the venue.

A fundraiser has been set up by the group with the aim of raising £10,000. This will go towards furniture, new windows and a heart defibrillator, among other things.

To make a donation to the fundraiser, visit obv.sr/wattscg

Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service