A LOTTERY-backed scheme in a church is celebrating ten years of opening its doors to the community in Little Horton, Bradford.

The non-religious Open Door Community Project, based at St Oswald's West End Centre in Christopher Street, was awarded £222,243 last year to build on its good work in the area.

The West End Centre is having a family fun day tomorrow between 11am and 3pm so everyone can help mark and enjoy the success it has achieved over the past decade.

The lottery award which came from the Reaching Communities programme, giving out grants to help those most in need and develop stronger communities, helped the centre grow by getting people more involved, gaining more skills and improving their job chances at its Learning Zone.

It also meant the centre could afford to take on two new full-time paid workers to run its schemes and groups and increase its opening hours from Monday morning until Friday lunch-time.

The project's learning zone promotes skills in English, mathematics and IT, with people being able to use the internet for information and to do job searches and then on the social side there was the No More Diet group focusing on long term health eating and life change to relaxation sessions and the Feel Good Friday group for the over 50s.

About 50 people a week are using the computers in the Learning Zone to find jobs as well as brushing up their IT skills from learning how to order their on-lines hopping to sending off e-mails.

Fran Holgate, who is the West End Centre's community development and monitoring officer and whose job was lottery funded, said: "The centre has made a real difference to this community.

"We have so many people of different nationalities, backgrounds and abilities all helping each other and understanding each other. I've never worked anywhere like it. It's been lottery money well spent and here's to the next ten years and many more to follow."

She added: "Tomorrow should be a fantastic fun day and a chance for the community to come along and help us celebrate our achievements over the years."

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Joanne Dodds, is due to be attend and there will be a range of activities and stalls.

Attractions at the fun day include a bouncy castle, a sandpit, ice cream van, tombola, flower stall, splat the rat, a martial arts workshop, a cake stall, and a chocolate fountain.

There will also be information stalls, including the dental health team and a raffle with prizes to be won donated from Bradford Bulls, Bradford City Football Club, Tesco, Morrisons and Bombay Stores.