PLANS for a new £333,000 centre in the heart of Southampton which will specialise in providing child, health and social care skills for residents have been given the green light by city chiefs.

Work on the new centre in Millbrook - called Trust Taplins - is scheduled to begin soon. It will be built in the grounds of the Weston Community Centre.

Money to pay for the project has come from the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) with plans provided by Southampton City Council, the local NHS and the Outer Shirley Regeneration Board.

Also planned for the site is a 100-place nursery which has been paid for by the NHS and the government's neighbourhood nurseries initiative to offer childcare places for NHS staff and local families to help boost employment levels in the area.

The specialist training centre will provide a wide range of opportunities for local people, including community parenting workshops, childminding training and business start-up advice, training for early years childcare and education, NHS and health and social care employment workshops and first aid and after-school club training sessions.

Recruitment for a learning centre development co-ordinator who will work at the centre is already under way.

Debbie Folkes, project manager for the NHS, said: "The exciting role will include consulting with local people to develop appropriate training activities and promoting community participation to ensure that the centre is providing the training that local people want and need and producing a regular programme of events for the centre."

Outer Shirley Regeneration and Sure Start funding will also be used to pay for a 20-place creche alongside the learning centre for local families who are undergoing training.

Kathy Slack, SEEDA's area director for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: "The Health Service is in urgent need of quality, trained staff and this centre will give people a safe place to leave their children while they train for jobs that will benefit us all."

Cabinet member for communities and regeneration Councillor Liz Mizon said: "I am sure that the new centre will play a very large role in regenerating the local neighbourhood by enabling more people to access the advice, guidance and training opportunities needed to help them break back into employment."