A MODERN learning centre has opened in Richmond to provide residents, employees and visitors with a wide-range of training opportunities.

The YMCA Community Learning Centre has been set up in a refurbished video shop in the Market Place.

It contains a computer suite with a high-speed broadband internet connection and aims to provide opportunities and facilities for people in Richmond and the surrounding area to gain access to quality learning.

The project was funded by the Learning and Skills Council North Yorkshire, Yorkshire Forward and the Single Regeneration Budget.

Richmond MP William Hague officially opened the centre on Saturday afternoon.

Martin Wynn, sub-regional action plan project manager at Learning and Skills Council North Yorkshire, said he was confident that the new centre would prove a huge success.

"Taking learning opportunities closer to local communities is one of our key aims," he said.

"And we are pleased to have been able to provide support for this important new initiative, which will make training and learning much more accessible for the people of Richmond.

"As well as providing funding support for the project, the Learning and Skills Council North Yorkshire has played an active role in its development, and it is very rewarding to see the end results of our and our partners' work."

Richmond YMCA runs a series of programmes. These include the Foyer Project, which provides supported housing for 16 to 25- year-olds, a youth group for 13 to 18-year-olds, the YMCA Community Shop, which sells second-hand furniture, clothes and books and an employment support project, which helps long-term unemployed people to get back into work.

The new centre will be open from 9am until 5.30pm, Monday to Thursday, from 9am until 4.30pm on Fridays and from 10am until 2pm on Saturdays.

Adults will be able to drop in and access the internet, or go on one of the 750 specially designed Learndirect online courses.

A wide portfolio of taught courses will also be provided through the week by a partnership of local providers, including Darlington College at Catterick, North Yorkshire County Council Community Education and the Workers' Educational Association.