A COMMUNITY centre held a Christmas bazaar and raised enough cash to keep the place running and continue to provide their services for free.

Vange Community Centre, in Kent View Road, Pitsea, invited residents to come together over some turkey rolls, Christmas cake and tea.

There were plenty of stalls to keep everybody interested, particularly, Darcey’s Divine, which specialises in bespoke scented candles.

Decorated and etched jars were also available to buy while a Slimming World advisor was also on hand for those wanting to shed a few pounds.

Lynda Smith, chairman of the community centre, said: “It went very well. Father Christmas went down a treat -– a lot of hard work went into setting up the grotto, so we were really pleased.

“We made lots of money for our community centre. We were all so happy.”

She added: “Everybody had a lovely time.

“There was lots going on, we had a raffle for a hamper and a Christmas cake, Christie from Darcey’s Divine was selling beautiful candles candles, I bought one for myself and haven’t lit it yet but it smells lovely.”

“We had stalls selling memory lockets, bric-a-brac, and our tombola was great - the prizes filled up to large tables full of stuff!”

Vange Community Centre hold a number of different sessions for people to socialise and take part in activities, as well as a mother and baby group, called Chicklets, which runs every Thursday.