A much-loved but struggling leisure centre is set to be run by the community.

Trafford council has handed over ownership of the George Carnall centre in Urmston to a community group, as well as more than £100,000 to support it.

The centre was facing closure before the pandemic but has been the subject of a Community Asset Transfer to bring the centre under the control of George Carnall Community Group.

At an executive meeting this week, Trafford council approved the transfer, as well as a payment of £23, 500 for immediate works required to the building and a £96,000 loan to assist with initial running and maintenance costs of the building.

As part of the approval, George Carnall will be leased to the community group by the council for 25 years, which Coun Liz Patel, executive member for leisure said would give the group time to ‘explore external funding options not open to us as a local authority’.

The council also agreed to cover the cost of any future major works, capped at £50,000 per year.

Coun Liz Patel said: “George Carnall Community Group should feel very proud of themselves for getting to this point, but I am under no illusions that hard work lies ahead.”

The executive member said the aim of the centre was to create ‘a community lead health and well-being centre’ which ‘compliments but doesn’t compete with’ the recently opened new Move Urmston leisure centre nearby.

Coun Patel did say, however, that the council would unlikely be able to offer further financial support in future to the community group, but reassured other council members that as a non-council body the group would have access to external funding streams that the authority could not.

She added that there are of course current risks with the impact COVID has had and is having on the leisure industry too.