RHU and Shandon Community Centre opened its doors to the public following five years and tens of thousands of pounds of restoration work.

The centre is now open for new and repeat business and members of the community went along to see the new look and find out about the work that had been put in.

Over the past five years the facilities have been completely overhauled, including the installation of a new heating system, a new roof, gutters, down pipes and windows.

The trustees also secured a lottery award to upgrade the kitchen and took it upon themselves to decorate.

Now the centre is up to date and open for community use which was celebrated at an open day on Saturday with stalls, refreshments and activities.

Families turned out to take part in various activities including the village treasure hunt. Children searched for clues in local spots such as the church and post office and despite the cold weather around a dozen children took part.

Trustees filled the public in on everything they had done to improve the hall over the last five years and many became friends of Rhu Hall, paying £10 membership for the next 12 months. Friends of Rhu Hall receive newsletters and information on the different activities planned.

Committee chairwoman Sue Thornley was delighted with the open day. She said: "We served tea and coffee and home baking to dozens of visitors and we all enjoyed seeing the hall full of activity.

"I gave a speech to all those involved who had helped us, committee members past and present, funders, especially the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, the Kenneth Barge Memorial Trust and the local community who attended many fund-raising events and Argyll and Bute Council - who worked with us to carry out the building works, supplementing our funds in order to heat the whole building, and gave us the benefit of their expertise."

Former councillor and well-known face in Rhu, Billy Petrie attended the open day to see the transformation of the centre that he used to spend time in as a child.

He said: "The hall has a great history and I had a lovely afternoon at the open day. I remember what it was like before when I was in clubs and scouts and I think the transformation is remarkable, its been completely upgraded.

"In 1903 people in the community got together to discuss the idea of a community centre, one of the group, A. N Patterson was an architect in Rhu at the time and helped with the original project. Now years on we had architect Sue Thornley to help with the restoration. The hall was built in 1905 after the local people generated the funds for it. It was built by a local tradesman Isacc Spali and now the restoration work has been carried out by Isacc's great grandson, Colin and will see another 100 years of community use.

"On behalf of the community, I extend my thanks to the committies past and present and everyone who had anything to do with the restoration. The place looks marvellous and all the hard work has paid off."

Mr Petrie is appealing to people not only in the local area but the surrounding area to make use of the hall for events, meetings and even weddings as the rates are exceptionally fair. He also suggested making an open day an annual event so that the community can get together and meet as Rhu often has new people arriving.

Also in attendance at the open day were current users of the hall, who were on hand to show what was on offer and to encourage people to sign up for classes.

Sue added: "The hall and the 2 meeting rooms are available at very reasonable rental and there are lots of opportunities for new users, for a single occasion or a course. We hope we can encourage more people to use this valuable - and now warm - community asset."