A £1M vision to create a centre for the community of Rednal was unveiled at a village church open day.

The scheme has been drawn up by members of St Stephen's Church, in Edgewood Road, who want to see the venue and its adjoining hall to merge into one focal point for residents.

Fundraising has already started to boost coffers to see the dream turn into reality.

The centre would provide a venue for a number of organisations.

The Rev Peter Thomas hopes it will bring the community together as well as strengthening their links with God.

The next stage of the scheme, which was launched last month is to raise cash so the plans can be reproduced professionally and an application can be made to the relevant authorities.

A fundraising body then needs to be set up to find the rest of the money to build the centre and get it up and running.

He added: "We want to get everyone involved.

"It should be a centre for the community and is really a mini-regeneration project for Rednal.

"In turn, we hope local authorities will return our efforts by providing, for example, decent lighting.

"We hope to run course on parenting, life skills, computer access and for housing groups and organisations.

"It really is a project for the people and we hope to get funding from trusts and local support."

The date of completion is determined by how much money the church can raise.

If you want to get involved, write to the Rev Thomas at St Stephen's Vicarage, in Edgewood Road, Rednal.