HUNDREDS of children and their parents are celebrating after meeting their fundraising target to build an extension to their family centre.

Donnington Doorstep, in Townsend Square, East Oxford, has managed to raise an additional £60,000 to meet the costs of building a new youth space - thanks to the Tudor Trust, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford City Council's east area committee and St Aldate's Parochial Trust.

The organisation had already raised £180,000 to build the extension - which will be used by vulnerable youngsters - but tenders came back higher than expected.

Manager Anna Thorne said: "We have got enough to go ahead with the contractor now.

"It's just brilliant. We are really pleased and absolutely chuffed to bits.

"Everyone is really excited and hopefully work can start soon - probably in January."

Donnington Doorstep offers a range of services, with daily drop-ins for those looking after young children.

It also hosts the Donnington Playgroup, provides outreach work for families, ante and postnatal classes, and other services and classes for parents.

Mrs Thorne said: "We also work with older children and young people, but don't have a dedicated space for that.

"It will be fantastic because we will be able to have a base for a lot of the activities which, at the moment, we have to squeeze in here.

"There will also be a new space for parenting groups. Activities that involve groups of adults will be able to run at the same time as the children's activities."

An estimated 800 adults and 1,200 children use the centre, with about 130 families visiting every week.

Members of the centre have also been involved in setting up a new Donnington Tenants' and Residents' Association.

Work is expected to take about three months and Mrs Thorne said she hoped most activities would continue during the building work.

She said: "We are hoping to keep as much of the service going as possible, as far as is safe and manageable.

"We may also start doing things in some other venues around the area and use the community centre, which is opposite Doorstep.

"The playgroup will probably relocate for about a month."

She added: "It has been a long time coming and some thought this was not going to happen. It will be nice to see work start."