Asda Eastlands are celebrating after the store officially opened its brand-new community room to the public with a little help from the Lord Mayor, several local charities and Manchester City Football Club.

The community room has now been made available to local charities and community groups that are in need of a reliable venue to host talks, meetings and other kinds of activities.

The idea came from Asda Eastlands community champion, Naomi MacDonald, who decided to revamp an unused part of the store after hearing many of the charities, groups and organisations she works with day-to-day, often didn’t have a practical and reliable place to work and hold events.

Asda colleagues were joined by Manchester City FC representatives, the Lord Mayor, Councillor June Hitchen, as well as individuals from the charities’ Breakthrough, SPIN, Royal Manchester Children’s Theatre and Auden house Residential Home, who all received a donation from Asda’s ‘Green Token Scheme’ as part of the opening day celebrations.

Naomi said: “I hope the introduction of our store community room will help to make a difference for the community groups, charities and organisations in the local area.

“I heard from many of the groups I’ve worked with that often they struggle to find suitable venues and even when they have found an appropriate space, the process hasn’t been an easy one. I knew I had to help somehow – its my nature as a community colleague.

“In the coming months it’ll be great to see the room being made use of and providing a home to some of the wonderful community activities that are available in the area. Everyone involved, both in and out of store, have been so supportive and I’d like to thank all those that came along to the opening to make it a launch to remember.”

The Lord Mayor, who did the honours of cutting the Asda ribbon, said; “It’s wonderful to see large companies like Asda providing a dedicated space that can be utilised by groups and charities in the community who need it to carry out their vital work. These charities and groups help bring people together and often do good in the area, so it’s really is great to see Asda Eastlands and Naomi helping them to do so.”

For more information on the Asda Eastlands community room or to book a place please contact Naomi MacDonald on 0161 230 3500 (extension 222) or email ncmacdo.s04584@wal-mart.co.uk