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

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

It has a computer suite with a high-speed broadband Internet connection and aims to provide opportunities and facilities for people in Richmond and its surroundings to access quality learning provision.

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

Richmond MP William Hague opened the centre on Saturday. Martin Wynn, sub-regional action plan project manager at LSC North Yorkshire said he was confident that the centre would prove a huge success.

He said: "Taking learning opportunities closer to local communities is one of our key aims. 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 LSC North Yorkshire has played an active role in its development. It is very rewarding to see the end results of our work and our partners'."

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 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 centre is open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 5.30pm, Fridays from 9am to 4.30pm, and Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. Adults will be able to drop in and access the Internet, or go on one of the 750 Learndirect online courses.

A range of conventional courses are also on offer each week thanks to a partnership wih Darlington College at Catterick, North Yorkshire County Council Community Education and the Workers' Educational Association.