BUSY Bees pre-school in Ledbury have announced a firm date for their move into the former Youth Centre, off Bye Street.

The building will be given a new lease of life, not only for Busy Bees, which has signed the lease, but also as community space, going by the name of "The Hive"

This is not to be confused with the well-known public library in Worcester.

Busy Bees manager, Emma Davis said: "From April 16, the beginning of the summer term, Busy Bees will be running from the old Youth Centre building in Bye Street. This big change has come about due to a change of circumstances with the use of the rented Portacabin we currently operate from. Due to expansion of the school, the area used by us was needed for other purposes, meaning we were given our notice to find new premises.

"The task of finding suitable premises in Ledbury from which we can operate all of our current services – Preschool, Breakfast and After School Club – plus resuming our Holiday Club provision, has been challenging. We explored many options within the area and although some looked promising, they did not work out for us. Eventually, with time running out, we looked again at our first choice which was the building once used as Ledbury Youth Centre and more recently by Halo Leisure."

Miss Davis added: "The lease agreement has been signed, plans drawn up and work started. The whole team are delighted that the building will once again be used and that the future of Busy Bees is now much more secure.

"Plans have been made to ensure we fully utilise the building. However, the premises will not be just for the use of Busy Bees. We will be allocating and renovating an area to be used for community groups. This is important to us as we pride ourselves on being a community group ourselves and can regularly been seen out in Ledbury with the children. Our vision for the future is that the Youth Centre building, soon to be known as ‘The Hive’, will become a community hub."

The large hall which is currently undergoing renovations "to make it a safe and fun place for children to play and learn".

Miss Davis added: "Stud walls have been going up to section off rooms and the ceiling on these rooms will be lowered to make it a cosy, warm space. Preschool will have a separate area from Breakfast and After School Club which will allow us to better meet the needs of the children attending. The area for the school children will be a fun space where children can relax after being at school all day. We’ll have a full sized pool table, table tennis, chill out area and will also be making good use of having the Recreation Ground on our doorstep. Outdoor play, a favourite of ours, will continue to be a priority.

"Once the work on the building has finished, we’ll be publishing details on how space in The Hive can be hired. An open day will be planned once we have moved in, allowing the community to see the changes we have made to this well-known building."