ALTON Community Centre is doing "a superb job" - it has pulled itself back from the edge of the abyss to become one of the top three community associations in Hampshire and turned its fortunes round to show a healthy profit for the year 2004/05. Actively expanding its services and buoyant over the prospect of a new building, the hard work and dedication of a committed team of staff and trustees appears to be paying off. Addressing East Hampshire District Council's north west area community committee last week, centre manager Richard Swainston sought to explain the extent of Alton Community Centre's activities and the kind of operation it is. He was forthright: in the business of providing such a service to the community, he told the meeting, "size really does matter." Currently housed in a building which dates back more than 150 years and which, while serving its purpose well in the past no longer fits the criteria, Mr Swainston painted a picture of an expanding service in need of a larger and more appropriate premises to meet current and future needs and aspirations. Formed in 1975, Alton Community Association (ACA), which runs the centre is, said Mr Swainston, not only in the top three within the county but is the largest by far (of the six large associations) in East Hampshire district with a turnover equal to four of the others. While it had weathered a difficult period dogged by financial difficulties, in 2003/04 the ACA had pulled itself out of the red to show a small £3,872 profit which in 2004/05 has grown into a surplus of £10,000. According to Mr Swainston, while the centre is basically self-funding, in 2003/04 some 8.5 per cent of its funding (£20,345) came from the local authorities and this remained key to its success. In all the centre employs 17 paid members of staff and 60 adult ed tutors and is open from 8-30 am to 10-30 pm six days a week. It currently has 12 letting rooms, has full caretaking cover and is able to offer a full range of office and meeting resources to its hirers. It provides a comprehensive reception area, parent and toddler group, pre-school playgroup able to take 23 youngsters five days a week, an elderly day centre which operates three days a week - one of them for older people with learning difficulties - a cafeteria serving "excellent" food, with subsidised meals for OAPs and some 5,000 meals a year for Meals on Wheels, commissioned by social services. The centre also boasts a successful bar and, over the past 18 months, has played host to two Alton Beer Festivals (the next one is on June 4) and provides the venue for a range of live music activities for young people including 'Open Mic' nights and the Battle of the Bands which attracted more than 200 people to the last night final. While the youth activities have been marred in recent months by other young people acting in an antisocial way, the ACA is currently working with the police and the county youth workers to address the problem. According to Mr Swainston, the centre plays host to over 70 user groups, including Mencap, the U3A, adult education in the form of East Hampshire Leisure Learning and a wealth of advisory groups, including the Hampshire youth service (Nexus) which is trying to work with any disillusioned youth to bring them into the fold. The U3A (University of the Third Age) has over 400 members able to attend more than 32 courses which are in addition to the East Hampshire Leisure Learning courses - an entrepreneurial move by ACA who stepped into the breach following an SOS from Petersfield which lost its adult education provider in 2003. On hearing of the plight, Richard Swainston set about extending Alton Community Centre's programme to embrace Petersfield and now provides over 100 courses to more than 1,000 people at some 13 premises across the district . This scheme sits well with the aims and objectives of the centre which are "to promote the benefit of, primarily, Alton and the neighbourhood but extending to include East Hampshire...." The centre also provides a venue for weddings and parties and brings "added value" to the community by offering six day a week Shopmobility service and is under contract with EHDC to offer public toilet facilities during opening hours. In seeking to give a sense of scale to the operation, Mr Swainston pointed out that size was a key factor now, because it enabled the ACA to do good work, to develop new ideas, to support weaker groups and to have a strong voice. And size will matter in the future he said because it will enable the Centre to adapt to change, to take on a new building and to use it to its full potential. While understanding the pressure on East Hampshire District Council from competing demands for limited resources, Mr Swainston pointed out that ACA had been delighted to hear news that cabinet had decided to progress the new building project to the next stage. "We are now fit and ready to walk into a new centre and start doing good work from day one," he said.