PEOPLE using Dukinfield’s Together Centre can find a space to just sit down, read a book and enjoy the quiet after a new library was opened.
Volunteers led by Helen Brickell helped turn what was a toilet block into the new addition to the Birch Lane facility.
And it is already proving popular as people flock to spend time there, close to the message tree that was donated by the late Kieran Quinn.
Helen, who lives in Haughton Green, saw the library opened by son Michael and is ecstatic at how it has turned out.
She said: “I’ve got my own business, which sees me go in and jazz up school libraries, but I know some of the people at the Together Centre, so I did it all as a volunteer.
“This one took me a couple of weeks, chipping in a few hours every night. I have a part-time job at Ashton Sixth Form College, then my business, so this was the third thing I did!
“But it all fitted in!
“Leanne Bold, the manager here, had the carpets put in and the workman said he’d do this as well.
“Once the carpet went in, it all started taking shape. It was a disabled toilet area, so we had to rip it out and paint it all, it was in dark yellow.
“We had donations of shelves from various places, so I painted them up too.”
Volunteers at the centre joined in the big opening, as well as local MP Andrew Gwynne, who also presented a Citizens Award to those who have given up their time to make sure it operates.
Most notably, the ‘biggest volunteer’ Charlie the dog!