A GROUP of volunteers in South Wye are doing their best to ensure that everyone in the neighbourhood is getting a chance to pull together.

Eighteen months ago, financial worries were set to force the Hinton Community Centre to go under. A small group of volunteers joined to ensure the community hub would not only survive but would thrive.

At the heart of this group is the South Wye Police Boxing Academy, whose headquarters had been at the centre for several years.

“It was clear that there was no money and that we were going to lose the facility,” said boxing club secretary Vince McNally.

“So, if we wanted to continue to box here, we were going to have to step in.”

Vince, with the support of Roland Wooderson, who took over the reins as centre chairman and Richard Roberts, who works alongside Vince in the boxing club and in the centre, made the commitment.

“We made lots of changes,” said Vince, who runs the centre on a voluntary basis alongside his job as an environmental health officer with Herefordshire Council. “And we brought in a number of partners to help us.”

A key role has been played by Herefordshire Housing, whose job club has been an outstanding success.

Run by Andy Robertson and Rosie Blanchard, the club has been helping people to get the skills they need to get back on the employment ladder.

“We average around 40 people a day coming in, three days each week from Tuesday to Thursday,” said Rosie, who looks after the day-to-day running of the club.

“We help people with their CVs, stage mock interviews and put on first aid courses.”

Job club visitors have a chance to take advantage of the community cafe, run by Hereford and Ludlow College.

Waitrose, who have also used the centre for some of their management training sessions, helped to develop the cafe.

At 9pm, Vince visits the Old Market store to collect food near its sell-by date.

This is used as the ingredients for the following day’s meal, with students preparing a two-course meal sold to the unemployed and disadvantaged for £1.

The boxing club continues to go from strength to strength and now works with the Muay Thai Boxing Club coached by Garry Jones.

“I also did a self-defence course for Royal National College students when a spate of them were being attacked at cash points,” he said.

“We’re looking to do further similar courses.”

But other community activities have been quick to embrace the centre as their headquarters.

“We are a contact centre for families who have split up,” said Vince. “And we have a community choir here with people coming along and paying £3 a sesherefordtimes