A WEST Devon children?s charity, which provides rural breaks for inner-city youngsters, is to open a new holiday centre in Cornwall.

CHICKS ? Country Holidays for Inner City Kids ? based at Milton Abbot, will open its new centre in May to mark its tenth anniversary as a registered charity.

CHICKS were able to acquire the property at Tywardreath near Par thanks to a £300,000 grant from the National Lottery?s Community Fund and sponsorship from Ginsters, the charity?s main sponsor.

Once the centre has been fully converted and equipped, the charity hopes to provide an extra 500 places a year for disadvantaged children across the UK.

Tracy Izod, senior fundraiser at Chicks, said: ?Local builders are on standby to start the alterations in March. We already have 100 children booked in ready to fill the place with the sound of laughter this summer.

?The fundraising team are working very hard to raise the necessary funds in time to pay for the building works, furniture and equipment needed to open on schedule in May, and donations of any kind would be greatly appreciated.

?We also need volunteer painters and gardeners to help get the centre ready.?

The new centre, called Coastal Retreat, will have seven bedrooms and is half a mile from the beach.

CHICKS applied for lottery funding last year by putting forward detailed proposals of their plan to open a second centre to cope with the huge demand.

General manager Andy Lyle said: ?When the CHICKS team and I were told of our successful bid we were absolutely thrilled as you never think it?s going to happen to you!

?The assessor obviously liked what he saw when he visited us and shared our vision, thereby helping us to bring a long awaited dream to fruition.

?The need for a second centre became very obvious three years ago when we started turning large numbers of children away due to lack of space.?

Last year, 682 children enjoyed a free break at the charity?s Milton Abbot centre, including more than 100 from towns and cities in Devon and Cornwall.

Anyone who would like to volunteer gardening or painting services, or make a donation, can ring Tracy on 01822 870692.