WALLINGFORD'S children's centre has been relaunched after it was threatened with closure due to funding cuts.

A shake-up in April saw Oxfordshire County Council withdraw funding for 31 of 44 children’s centres and two of seven early intervention hubs.

But the local authority has provided some community groups with transition funding to try to keep under-threat centres open.

Wallingford Family Centre in Wigod Way is one which has benefited from transition funding and has received more than £30,000 over the next three years.

Town mayor Mike Kidley and pupils from Crowmarsh Gifford Primary School officially relaunched the centre earlier this month.

Wallingford county councillor Lynda Atkins, a former town councillor, said further £20,000 of support from the town council was also being provided to cover the next three years.

She said: "The transition funding, with further backing from the town council, means the children's centre can stay open.

"That's good news for people with young families who rely on the stay-and-play sessions and other services.

"The centre was purpose-built just a few years ago so it would not have made sense to close it.

"Staff and volunteers will run the centre and it will continue to provide vital support for families with pre-school children."

The centre, overseen by the town council, was previously a base for the Action for Children charity but under the new arrangement it is no longer offering its services there.

Ms Atkins said the children's centre in Cholsey was too far away for Wallingford families who did not have transport, meaning keeping a children's centre in the town was vital.

The Wigod Way centre first opened in July 2014 after the town council led a project to convert a former evangelical church in the road, after the youth centre in Clapcot Way closed.

The town council worked with South Oxfordshire District Council to acquire the church site, and collaborated with the county council to fund the scheme.

When the £300,000 building was completed it to housed a youth worker and the children’s centre run by Action for Children, on behalf of the county council before county council savings threatened its existence.