THE NEW £4.6m YMCA Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea facility will be officially opened tomorrow at a special launch event.

The new building, which replaces the former Highbridge Hotel, took more than a year to build and includes a community café, sports hall, conference and meeting space as well as 23 rooms of supported accommodation.

The facility will be officially opened at 11am on Friday (January 31) and will host a range of fitness classes, youth services and community events as well as offering rentable meeting and conference rooms.

The new YMCA building was funded by YMCA Dulverton Group, Sedgemoor District Council, Homes England and EDF’s Hinkley Point C Community Fund.

The site was previously occupied by the Highbridge Hotel, which was left in a state of disrepair after being devastated by two fires in six years.

The YMCA Highbridge team have already begun providing a variety of sessions as part of a timetable of weekly events, which includes a stay and play for parents with babies, as well as sports sessions for children aged 8-15.

The YMCA said a programme of events will expand over the coming weeks, including the introduction of a fitness timetable from February 3.