WORK began this week on bringing back an almost forgotten historic hall in Galashiels.

The Fifth Ward Community Centre, which is snuggled away in Halliburton Place, will receive new windows, a new kitchen and a new heating system over the coming months.

An army of volunteers are also preparing their rollers and brushes to paint and wallpaper each of the rooms.

And the hard-working committee hope the facelift will lead to a new lease of life for the 130-year-old hall.

Gordon Keddie from the Fifth Ward Community Centre committee told us: "The hall has been allowed to become run down and it's about time we brought it up to date. It was all getting a bit antiquated.

"We have the money now to double glaze the entire building, fit a new kitchen and install a better heating system.

"The hall has continued to be used by a few groups over the years but we hope once the work is completed, the diary will fill up a bit more."

An Awards for All grant of over £9,000 and a further windfall of almost £5,000 from Scottish Borders Council has allowed for the refurbishment to take place.

Mr Keddie added: "We are extremely grateful to both Awards for All and Scottish Borders Council."

The Gala Fifth Ward Community Association, which represented the Glendinning, Halliburton, Low and High Buckholmside, Bristol Terrace and Plum Tree Brae areas, acquired the hall from the former St Ninian's Mission in the years after World Warr II.

They paid £600 for the internal caretaker's house, which has since been integrated into ground-floor meeting rooms, and agreed to allow the Church to continue holding religious services and Sunday School classes.

Over the decades the hall has been the home for youth clubs, dog shows, the Women's Guild, flower shows, keep-fit classes and children's parties.

More recently it was the temporary practice hall for the Galashiels Pipe Band as well as the town's boxing club.

The Right Angle Theatre Company still use the upstairs hall for practice.

And a pre-school music group has recently moved in for once-weekly classes following the closure of The Hive community facility.

Jim Raeburn has served on the hall committee since 1978. He told us: "There has not been much money spent on the hall over the years, we've just been getting by.

"There used to be waiting lists to hire the hall at weekends - it would be great for those days to return."