New community hub is a hit - and it's all been done without funding

CHILDREN living in a Merseyside town say they had nowhere else to go before a new centre opened up that they say is “sick” and “better than school.”

- By EDWARD BARNES

In March, a new community centre called Shine Together opened up on Fairview Avenue in Liscard, Wirral. The former St John’s Ambulance training facility has been transformed with a new games room, social supermarket, art space, as well as using the large room upstairs for groups.

Shine Together has been set up by Michelle Naylor, who has previously worked for two other Wirral-based charities. She told the ECHO: “I want it to become part of the community, the central point in people’s lives, to know people are there at the end of the phone.”

Michelle took over the building in February and started having groups in the building in March. Before this, there had been a day of people helping get the building repainted and ready for its new use, with donations coming in from local businesses.

She told the ECHO: “It’s been a bit overwhelming, in a good way. It happened so fast. Sometimes I just have to stop and think I only had my first coffee morning on March 19. I still have to remind myself we haven't had one bit of funding.