Trustees of a local community centre are hoping to encourage businesses from surrounding areas to use the venue to host their classes by offering it free of charge whilst they get their ventures off the ground.

Gareth Johnston, who is a trustee of the Newstead Centre, is hoping to attract business owners from surrounding towns and villages, including Hucknall, to use the centre.

Mr Johnston said: "At the moment we've got a bit of money that we've put to one side that we're going to use for starting enterprises. The plan is we're going to waive the fee to rent the room, and to a certain extent, depending on what the actual class is, we'll cover the insurance.

"And the idea being we give it long enough to try to get it established, if it becomes established, we hand that over to the person that set it up, it becomes their class, they take the revenue from it, and then we charge them for the rent of the room. The big hall charge for an hour, is £12. The classrooms are cheaper so it's not like it'd be a big expense coming out of whatever they're making."

The trustees' vision is that the centre will once again become a hive of activity as well as providing an opportunity for people to launch their businesses.

Mr Johnston said: "I'm interested in getting stuff into the community centre for the community whether that be the immediate local community of Newstead or its wider reaches like Hucknall, Annesley, Kirkby and Linby. There's not that much going off in these places.

"Ideally, I'd like it to be something for the younger generations and the older generations because they're the two that tend to get neglected. Then you're wondering why the kids are out spray painting the walls and what not, it's because they're bored out their minds and they haven't got anything to do; so if we can get something that they can do, it stops that happening.

"The elderly, they need something to do, they need company, and they need interaction with people. And if they can get out and come for a Bridge night, or anything that gets them out socialising, then they should do."

Mr Johnston moved his own dog training business, Johnston K9, to the premises four years ago and holds multiple classes at the venue each week. However, other than this, there are precious few regular bookings and if this continues the future of the Newstead Centre looks very uncertain.

"If the centre doesn't work it's just going to get turned into houses, and it's going to get turned into houses that nobody from Hucknall or Newstead can afford to buy. So you've got two choices: you either help us keep the centre running and have somewhere to have your birthday parties and your weddings, or you let it get turned into houses. It sounds horrible to say it but that's what will happen if it doesn't stay open. It's up to Hucknall and its community, if you want to keep these things, to do something."