Champagne corks were popping on Mersea after news of an £87,000 lottery grant.

The cash will pay for the total refurbishment of the High Street community centre - from a new kitchen and main hall floor to a revamp of the entrance and car park.

It was Mersea Island Community Association's second application to the national lottery charities board, and comes as the group celebrates its 20th anniversary.

Chairman Peter Clements said: "We are all completely gobsmacked, because we were turned down the first time round. We are absolutely stunned. When we opened, we did it on a shoestring, and all our kit was secondhand. Most of it still is."

This is the centre's first major donation since opening. Although it received start-up grants totalling £80,000 two decades ago, residents had to raise the remaining £130,000 needed for the project.

Mr Clements added: "There are a lot of local people who have worked hard for the place for a long time, and at last our ship has come in. It is great."

Work, due to start in early summer, will include new curtains and a replacement for the Second World War prefabricated storage building.

The news means the group can now set its sights on plans for a bar extension and changing rooms - the wishlist items that led to the failure of its first lottery application.

Mr Clements said the anniversary party, planned for June, would be put off until work was completed.

The award is one of 24 in the eastern region, totalling nearly £3 million. They are the last to come from the board before its reorganisation as the Community Fund: Lottery Money Making a Difference.

Success - staff toastnews of their cash grant

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