THE Oak Tree Centre in Oldbury has landed a £18,036 cash windfall.

The Veolia Environmental Trust totalling donated the cash to community centre to improve access to the Tame Road building.

The centre, which opened in 2005, attracts over 400 people a week and now has a new cafe and a community garden.

Chairman of the centre, Matt Nott, says, “The Oak Tree Centre provides a safe and welcoming place for use by people of all backgrounds.

"This grant will enable us to offer events and activities to an even wider range of people.”

The Veolia Environmental Trust donates money through the Landfill Communities Fund which.

The executive director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, said: “We are pleased to be able to help the Oak Tree Centre.

"As we only have a limited amount of funds to distribute every quarter to community and environmental projects from all over the UK, our funding process is a competitive one.

"Therefore, the success of these three groups needs to be seen as a real achievement."

He added: "We look forward to seeing the work start and the improvements take shape."

Since 1997 the Veolia Environmental Trust has awarded £2,951,752 to 84 community and environmental projects in the West Midlands.

Mr Taylor said: "We will now start the process of working with the Oak Tree Centre to finalise the details of the projects, including start dates, so they can get up and running as soon as possible."