PLANS are being drawn up for a complete revamp of Penhill Community Centre costing up to £350,000.

When complete, the new centre will offer parents and small children in Penhill and Pinehurst a social and educational centre of a type never before seen in either area.

It will be geared towards building community spirit and offering users the same level of opportunity as people elsewhere in the town.

The move, which recently gained planning permission from Swindon Council, is the work of Sure Start, a Government-backed agency behind similar projects nationwide.

No timescale has yet been settled, but Sure Start programme manager Liz Evans says the preliminaries are well in hand.

She explained: "Having got the go-ahead from the council to use the Penhill Community Centre, we can go ahead with planning how the refurbishment will take place and how we will use the space to meet the aims of the Sure Start project.

"We are working with an architect and the local community, including parents, to draw up plans for how the inside of the community centre and the land surrounding it will look."

Sure Start specialises in serving children aged up to four years along with their parents.

The help it offers ranges from nursing and advice to simply providing a place for parents to gather and talk.

When the Penhill project is complete, it will also provide 18 staff jobs.

Ms Evans added: "Our aim is to make sure children have the same opportunities, wherever they are from.

"Sure Start is targeted at areas where those opportunities are perhaps not so widely available.

"Our work is about reducing isolation and exclusion."

Groups using the centre as it stands have also been consulted, and are to move to alternative accommodation, including the John Moulton Hall.