Ref: tn_10606
Date: 12th September 2006

Double Weekend Boost for Turnpike Centre

Photo Call: The Mayor of Wigan, Co. Eunice Smethurst, will officially open ‘An Eye For A Picture’ at 12pm on Saturday 16th September at the Turnpike Centre. Photographers are also invited to capture the Turnpike’s Open Day. Please contact Martyn Lucas on 01942 404469.

If you haven’t visited Leigh’s Turnpike Centre recently, you are in for a big surprise this weekend! On Saturday 16th September staff at the Turnpike Centre’s library and gallery are joining forces to showcase what Leigh’s best community facility has to offer.

Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust are hosting a ‘Turnpike Centre Open Day’ to allow the public of Leigh to meet library staff and local community groups and to find out exactly what the Centre has to offer them for free.

The Turnpike has three active parts:
• Leigh Library is the biggest and busiest in the borough
• the Turnpike Gallery has one of the largest gallery spaces in the region and is famous for its interactive exhibitions that bring art to life
• the Derby Room is home to many local groups and societies and is also a popular arts venue hosting events such as the Words Literary Festival.

In a double boost for the Turnpike Centre, the gallery’s latest exhibition ‘An Eye For A Picture’ showcasing the work of some of the borough’s finest photographers opens on Saturday at 12pm. The exhibition features hundreds of prints, depicting a range of topics from landscapes to portraits and still lives to action shots. It includes contributions from Atherton and District Amateur Photographic Society, Leigh and District Camera Club, Wigan Photographic Society and Wigan 10 Foto Club. The exhibition runs until Saturday 30th September and admission is free.

Leigh Library Officer Paul Banks, organiser of the Open Day, says, “The Turnpike Centre has so much to offer and we want to show people who perhaps are not regular users exactly what they are missing out on. The library has far more than just books, there is DVD and CD hire, free access to the internet and lots of free activities and vital public information for people of all ages.”

Paul continues, “We also have the Derby Room, Leigh’s most popular meeting venue. It is used by local society meetings and also as a training and craft fair space, among many other uses. There is always something going on! Just upstairs we have the fantastic Turnpike Gallery - a site of national importance right on our doorstep. We hope lots of people come along on Saturday to sample a taste of what the thriving Turnpike Centre has to offer.”

For more information about the Turnpike Centre Open Day, please call Paul Banks on 01942 404404. To find out more information about the ‘An Eye For A Picture’ exhibition please contact the Turnpike Gallery on 01942 404469 or visit www.wlct.org/turnpike.

-ends-

NOTES TO EDITORS: For further information on this News Release please contact Chris Dunbar, Public Relations Officer, Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust on 01942 486937 or at c.dunbar@wlct.org.

The Turnpike Gallery: The Turnpike Gallery is the only purpose built art gallery in Wigan Borough and is situated within the Turnpike Centre in Leigh, the town’s focal point for a variety of cultural activities. The Turnpike’s programme of exhibitions and activities gives visitors the chance to engage with a range of visual arts and engage in hands-on activities. Please call 01942 404469 or visit www.wlct.org/turnpike.

Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust: Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust is a charitable trust working on behalf of Wigan Council to manage and support leisure and cultural facilities, initiatives and events for over 300,000 residents in the Wigan Borough. See www.wlct.org.

Getting Wigan Active: Getting Wigan Active is Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust’s vision to ensure that people across the Wigan Borough have the opportunity to become more physically, mentally and creatively active. It also aims to increase community activity and to encourage good citizenship.

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