FAMILIES in Fareham are set to benefit from plans to improve a vital community service.

Bosses at the Oak Meadow Centre have applied to the Borough Council for the last slice of funding needed to refurbish their building in Tewkesbury Avenue.

The facility provides childcare for children aged four to 11, including full day care for under-fives and a breakfast club, after-school club and holiday playschemes for older children.

A £154,000 scheme of improvements will create a welcoming community area within the Early Years Centre, where families can meet up and get support and information.

Centre manager, Diana Warburg, told the Daily Echo: "It will enable us to provide families with somewhere comfortable for them to come and take part in all sorts of activities or to get the information or support they need in whatever way that is."

The facility is designed primarily for residents who are socially or financially deprived, particularly in north-west Fareham.

As well as providing pleasant meeting and play areas, it will also include a kitchen with a cooker, washing machine and tumble dryer for families to use.

Oak Meadow runs a wide range of family workshops and groups, such as a teenage parent group, post-natal depression groups, behaviour management sessions and sleep clinics.

Hampshire County Council has already pledged £147,000 towards redesigning and refurbishing the building.

A further £1,500 has been awarded from the Fareham Borough Council community grants programme.

Bosses at Oak Meadow have now applied to the borough council for an additional £5,500 to pay for all the necessary fixtures and fittings.

Council chiefs will decide whether to award the money at meeting of Fareham Borough Council's executive on Monday.