THE leader of a charity behind the regeneration of the former Flag Lane Baths says its future use as a community hub will help tackle poverty and deprivation in a hard-hit area of Crewe.

The Rev. David Edwards outlined his vision for the future restoration of the site to government Towns Fund Minister Luke Hall who was given a tour of the derelict building by the Always Ahead charity and Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan.

Funding for a project that has been in the pipeline for several years will come from part of Crewe's £22.9m Town Deal windfall, which was announced earlier this month.

The Rev. Edwards said: "The whole ethos behind it is that it's community driven. We know we're in a community that has been plagued by deprivation, so we will be looking at things for low income families to come and do.

"We can create opportunities for them to come in and watch a film, we can support the younger people and we want to develop the outdoor basketball area into a community space. There will be a cafe and different spaces for groups to hire."

Crewe's unique town baths, built in art deco style in 1937 by the former Crewe Corporation, includes a labyrinth of former gym rooms, changing rooms, a large reception with staircases leading to an upstairs gallery. At its heart are two swimming pools that many people in the town will recall having their first lessons in.

Its natural sloping floor is to be fully utilised in the design of the community hub, with steps built in running down to the "deep end" where a theatre/film facility will sit.

Members of Always Ahead drew inspiration for their plans by visiting Victoria Baths, a former Edwardian bath complex in Manchester, which has been turned over into a similar community-based setting.

"It's very similar [Victoria Baths], they've done something similar and we've been down there to have a look" added the Rev. Edwards. "We spent some time looking at their business plan and model and some others around the country. But we want to remain authentic to Flag Lane Baths in Crewe, we want to stay true to its heritage.

"Flag Lane is so well used, the footfall is quite huge in this area so we envisage that it will be a lively setting."

As well as arts and cultural space there will be space set aside for those in need to come and access support, as well as meeting points for local police beat officers and PCSOs and council services.

The Towns Fund Minister was joined by members of the charity, Chair Sheron Ferguson and Campaign Committee Chair Andy Morris as well as Crewe Town Board Chairman Doug Kinsman and Cheshire East officials and ward councillors.

The Minister said: "This is going to be an incredible project. You can see how important this is to so many members of the community. It's such an exciting place and that's why Kieran has been beating down my door as the local MP to secure the investment in a building that is going to be such an important community asset."

Flag Lane is one of 10 projects put forward for funding in Crewe's Town Deal, which also include provision of a new youth centre, developing a walk and cycling route into the town centre along Valley Brook adjacent to the baths site and a new spectator stand at Cumberland Arena.

The Minister added: "The Town Board presented some positive proposals and we scrutinised them very heavily. Ultimately they had a really strong set of proposals which is why we we were excited to award that funding to Crewe.

"This is a big win for Crewe, spearheaded by the Town Board and I look forward to coming back to see the finished product."

Cheshire East Executive Director of Place Frank Jordan says the Flag Lane building presented a challenge as its age limited how the types of reuse.

He explained: "It's getting the balance, trying to keep the building in use and getting some value out of it. With David coming along he's come up with the perfect answer - community use with a bit of government and council support.

"If we can keep it largely in its current form that is fantastic for the Crewe community. At the moment it's sending out a negative message to the community, so bringing it back into use brings some positivity and optimism to the area."

A feasibility study has been completed and after an approval process through the Crewe Board heads of terms will have to be agreed before work starts on the site, although from the start to finish of building work the project could take only around nine months.

Ownership of the building will be transferred across to the charity as a community asset for use by local groups.

Always Ahead first proposed the project not only to regenerate the building, but to tackle issues of anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping that were linked with it remaining empty.

It has fallen into dereliction and has also suffered from vandalism after being subject to frequent break-ins.

The Rev. added: "We really felt passionately about doing something with the building and we got groups together and we looked how we could create a real community hub at the baths.

"We are really excited about the news on the Town Deal. The government involvement is quite recent, but we have had to have had a very robust funding strategy in place from the beginning because the first question we were asked was how were we going to pay for it.

"It's a huge building and it will take a lot of resources to bring it back into use.

"We got people involved who were experts in that field. Our chair is a communications director for a large international charity. Sheron [Ferguson] has responsibility to bring in £10m of new money every year to her organisation, so we brought her into Always Ahead and said 'tell us how you do it?' We didn't need £10m, but we needed some funds.

"Then we've Andy Morris from Assurant, a large Crewe employer in Crewe, who has been able to bring in the business skills we needed."

Crewe's MP praised the sterling work of Always Ahead and says Flag Lane and the other projects in the Town Deal will help "Crewe build back better".

"There are no better ambassadors (Always Ahead) and no-one has worked harder for this project than David, Sheron and Andy and the team. That is exactly why I wanted the Minister to get the chance to hear straight from them about their vision and ambition for Flag Lane," said the MP.

"Of course what you need to deliver these projects is funding and the government is putting that in for this project alongside lots of other projects. It will also help create jobs and opportunities locally."

Local Crewe West councillor Connor Naismith has campaigned for the baths to be regenerated and he said: "This is a really exciting time for Flag Lane Baths and the wider town as the hard work of charities like Always Ahead, Crewe Town Council, Cheshire East Council and the Town Board starts to bear fruit.

"I'm really pleased that Westminster is finally taking notice of this and injecting funds."