IT was champagne all round as Jubilee Fields estate watched the first turf being cut for its community centre.
Rachel Fuller, seven, was only a baby when the campaign to build a hall for the Shildon community began. With a spade almost as big as herself, the pint-sized helper cut the commemorative turf with the assistance of Elizabeth Carr, a member of the hall's management committee.
Six years ago, residents from Jubilee Fields secured £450,000 worth of grants to build the estate's first community hall.
Sisters Joanne and Marie Humphrey, who lost their mother and three small boys in a fire that shocked the community, gave £800 from donations collected in the town in the aftermath of the tragedy.
They could not attend the ceremony, but the boys' aunt, Anne Talbot, represented them. She said: "Rather than putting up play equipment outside that could be vandalised, they decided to provide things for the crche. There are lots of children around here who will benefit."
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