AN isolated rural community has been awarded £500,000 from the National Lottery.

Ennerdale Bridge sits as the gateway to the Ennerdale Valley in the western Lake District, Cumbria.

As well as income from farming, it relies on tourism including ramblers on the Wainwright coast -to-coast walk and visitors enjoying one of Cumbria's most unspoilt valleys.

But villagers have been concerned as the rural services on which they relied were progressively lost – including the local shop, post office and regular bus service.

Residents have now secured Big Lottery funding of £478,000 for a new community centre, including a shop, cafe and community space.

The Ennerdale Centre will also include a shower and toilet facility for visitors and walkers – meeting the needs of tourists to the area.

Contractors are expected to be appointed and on site by June 2014 when they will begin the demolition work and start the new building.

The building work is expected to take 6-8 months with the handover of the completed building due to take place in early March 2015.

There will then be a planned pause to allow for staff and volunteer recruitment plus stocking of the shop with the intention of opening the facility by Easter 2015.

A full case study can be downloaded here.