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They are unashamedly noisy neighbours - but they have also been good neighbours to the people of Walton for 124 years.

And regardless of what the future holds for Goodison Park, Everton Football Club intends to make sure that the good folk of L4 enjoy a Royal Blue presence in their community for the forseeable future and beyond.

The Blues have announced the latest stage in a series of significant and extensive plans to improve and regenerate the areas surrounding Goodison Park.

And the improvements are not just a physical face-lift, but changes which will leave a lasting legacy.

The Blues today announced their acquisition of the former St Francis De Sale parochial centre, near Walton Road, which will be refurbished and transformed into a seven-day-a-week community centre and a dedicated accessible matchday lounge.

The large open plan building will accommodate a delivery centre for the vulnerable and disabled members of the community.

And on matchdays the venue will be used as a lounge for disabled supporters, notably those who may want to avoid the pre-match hustle and bustle of Goodison Park.

This is just one stage of a concerted plan to regenerate the entire area.

The centre lies behind the Everton Free School on Spellow Lane, which has already been open for 12 months educating 200 students who have struggled in mainstream education.

Boards surrounding the rear of the Free School have been concealing the construction of a 365-day a year Community Hub and campus which is scheduled for completion this autumn.

The centre will act as a base for the award-winning Everton in the Community team and will contain a community café, a counselling space, a Family Zone, a Teen Zone and a 4G football pitch - a purpose-built campus designed to meet the needs of all members of the local community.

In addition, the club has supervised redecoration of properties along Goodison Road – while some have been bought to act as a drop-in centre for local residents to call and discuss any issues they may have.

Plans are also in place to appoint an Enviromental Officer to help keep the streets and surrounding areas tidy.

And ultimately it is hoped that all the changes will combine to form a ‘Toffee Trail’ stretching from Walton Road up to Goodison Park itself.

Denise Barrett-Baxendale, Everton Director, Everton in the Community’s Executive Chair and driving force behind the community initiative, said of the community hub: “This will be a fantastic facility allowing us to offer members of our community a safe haven where they can socialise safely; access employment, training, and education and volunteering opportunities; receive support around physical health and provide access for isolated members of our community to engage with us via our programmes.”

Part funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Football Foundation, the facilities at the new EitC People’s Hub will offer a safe and nurturing environment for local people to acquire new skills and qualifications as well as cultivating the ambitions of those aspiring to a career in sports coaching, activity leadership and early-years development.

“Our findings highlight the challenges that people face and through these two new community facilities we will be able to address some of these needs," added Denise. "We’re most excited by how we hope the community will get involved and shape what is provided at each location.

"These are designed to be community facilities – with elements shaped by the community themselves – so we really do want everyone who lives nearby to get involved."

"It’s important to us that we continue to build on the work of Everton in the Community and remain embedded in our community. While it’s much deeper than bricks and mortar, these buildings are a physical demonstration of how we are broadening our work in L4.

"This area has been our home for well over a century and while our stadium may take us elsewhere in the future, a piece of Everton will always remain through our commitment to working with this community.”