IT cost £100,000 and has been two years in the making.

The Highlands Hub, in Fareham, has it all... from a cafe to meet friends to advice on sorting out your money worries.

Billed as a community support centre for people living in the Fareham Park and Hill Park areas in the north of the town, it all came from humble beginnings and the idea of one church minister.

Vicar Philip Cochrain took up his position at the St Colomba Church two years ago, and quickly realised the need to support the community in a more effective way.

So when a shop building became available on Highlands Road last year, it was too good an opportunity to miss.

A team of volunteers, from the church and community, has since worked to get the place up and running.

The volunteer-manned project is funded by Hampshire County Council and Fareham Borough Council, which have both put in £50,000, to cover the cost of the lease of the building for the next three years and its refurbishment.

There is a café area at the front, for people to meet, chat and access the Internet in addition to three meeting rooms at the rear of the building available for external organisations.

Forty agencies are already signed up to offer services from the hub including the Citizens Advice Bureau, debt counselling experts, police beat surgeries and a variety of learning opportunities.

The centre has been operating unofficially for about two weeks and has seen around 20 to 30 residents a day, but yesterday 150 people were there to see former Pompey footballer Linvoy Primus do the formal opening.

The Rev Cochrain said: “It’s a message of hope at a time when things have been quite black – isn’t it good to open something that’s positive for the community.

“The people in this part of Fareham haven’t had the opportunities and prosperity that the rest have. We wanted to do something about it. It has caught the imagination of the community.”

Jim Palmer, chairman of the Highlands Hub management committee, said: “We didn’t realise it was the Big Society, but actually it is exactly that, it’s about using community effort combined together with some funding provided by the government in order to support the community.

“It’s our manpower effort to drive it and run it.”

The volunteers hope to move to a larger permanent building in the area after they have proved the need.