THE first images of a “community hub” that will form part of York’s new stadium development have been revealed.

City of York Council has confirmed a string of organisations have now officially signed agreements to occupy the Monks Cross building which will be created alongside a 6,000-seat home for York City and York City Knights rugby league club.

It will include an Independent Living Assessment Centre, providing face-to-face advice to help disabled and elderly people stay in their homes, an outpatient facility for York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, York St John University’s Institute of Community Sport and Wellbeing, children’s play facilities, a creche operated by Creepy Crawlies and an “e-learning” library.

The various organisations have signed “heads-of-terms” agreements. Plans for the stadium and the community building, as well as John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next stores nearby, were approved by the council in May, and the authority is now looking for a firm to design, build and operate the sporting venue, scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2014/15 football and rugby league season.

A community partnership event has been held at Clements Hall in York to outline to the community and voluntary sector how using the hub building could lead to “difficult-to-reach groups” become more involved.

Organisations attending included York Older People’s Assembly, Active York, North Yorkshire Sport and York Mental Health Forum.

Coun Sonja Crisp, cabinet member for leisure and culture issues, who opened the event, said: “We believe the community stadium will enable us to use the power of sport to promote wellbeing, put public health at the heart of our communities, engage children in healthy lifestyles and provide accessible learning opportunities for all.”

Guest speakers at the partnership meeting included representatives from the hospital trust, York St John and Creepy Crawlies, York City in the Community co-ordinator Paula Stainton and the council’s head of libraries and archives, Fiona Williams, as well as its director of public health and wellbeing Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones.

He said: “It was a great opportunity to get York’s community together to discuss how we can use the new community stadium and community hub in the best possible way to benefit the people of York.”

The organisations using the community hub will occupy 2,000sqm of space.

The outpatient facility will offer services including physiotherapy, pain management, sexual health advice, weight management and blood-taking.

The Institute of Community Sport and Wellbeing will run schemes designed to promote sport, activity, health and education.

The library facility will support genealogy research and access to sports archives.