York environmentalists were celebrating today after National Lottery chiefs granted more than £250,000 for a pioneering centre using space age technology.

The futuristic S-shaped glass and solar panelled building will be sited on St Nicholas Field, a 24-acre nature site built on a former rubbish tip in Tang Hall.

The hi-tech building will be used as a green showcase, pioneering eco-friendly systems into the next century and attracting visitors from all over the country.

It will also act as an education centre - offering schoolchildren from across North Yorkshire a glimpse of a pollution free future - and breathe new life into Tang Hall, a recognised area of social deprivation in York.

The National Lottery Charities Board announced today that the environment centre, backed by MP Hugh Bayley and the city council, has won a total of £288,326 - the second largest grant to be awarded nationwide.

It is the culmination of more than two years hard work by environmentalists in putting the bid together.

The 2,500 sq ft centre will contain display areas, a caf, meeting rooms and act as working environmental model for those who visit as well as offering facilities to the area's community groups.

Designed by York environmental architects Eco Arc, it will feature a turf roof, wind turbines, wall insulators and sewage purifiers to ensure self-sufficiency and minimise pollution.

Any surplus energy produced will be sold on to the National Grid to generate income.

Information will also be on hand to help residents take advantage of cash-saving, energy-efficient devices.

Project co-ordinator Gordon Thomas, who works as a park ranger at St Nicks, said the grant justified the efforts of everybody who had spent more than two years working on the scheme.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted. This is a vindication for all the people who have put in the hard work to make it happen. It is also an opportunity to put Tang Hall firmly on the map and will bring new hope to an area that deserves it.

He added: "I would personally like to thank the Joseph Rowntree Trust who funded the feasibility study on which this grant was made."

A York organisation that offers support and guidance for young people is also celebrating the award of a large handout.

The Detached Youth Work Project has received £188,472 to fund three staff salaries and cover training costs and develop a scheme to support the young homeless.

York's latest lottery windfalls comes just two days after heritage lottery chiefs granted more than £170,000 for the renovation of Prince Rupert's Barn, an historic tythe barn in Nether Poppleton which has connections to the battle of Marston Moor.

The city also received £202,000 in that round of lottery handouts to buy a Hogarth painting.

Eleswhere in the county today, many other local charities were celebrating their own windfalls.

See COMMENT, What a lotto cash we got

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