When mum Tasleem Ahmed took her third child, Waqar, back to the nursery attended by his older brother and sister, she admits she was shocked.

The "terrapin"-style buildings at Farnham Road, Great Horton were shabby and vandalised.

Little seemed to have changed at the Margaret McMillan Children's Centre since her older children Waseem and Amina had attended nursery there five years earlier.

"It was a terrapin building and it had become so run down - it was being vandalised all the time," said Mrs Ahmed.

She joined the charity committee running the centre and set about applying for grants. "I had a lot of encouragement from people around who said 'yes, go for it'," she said.

And now, thanks to her hard work and a £417,559 Lottery grant, a gleaming new building stands on the site of the old centre. All the activities laid on by a paid staff of six - including a 48-place nursery, creche, and training for Asian women in English language and typing - are now being carried out in bright, purpose-built surroundings.

The building was designed by Little Germany architects Priest Woodward Associates, which originally offered to draw up the scheme for nothing to help with the Lottery application.

At the official opening, youngsters who will be among the first to take advantage of the new facilities cut a ribbon, and prayers were said for the new building.

Mrs Ahmed said: "The classes are also popular. There are no men here - it's important the women feel comfortable, 90 per cent of our users are from the Asian communities. This place has helped a lot of women, they are mostly from Pakistan and married - they have had some education in Pakistan but it isn't recognised here. By coming to our classes they can learn basic English and some typing."

l Typing lessons are so popular that the centre does not have enough equipment for everyone who wants to do the training and organisers have appealed for donations of unwanted electric typewriters from local firms. Anyone who can help should call (01274) 504096.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.