Actress Linda Robson of tv's 'Birds of a Feather' will be joining Dick Moran and his management team for the ARC's Open Day on Saturday 13th February in The Village, Caterham-on-the-Hill.

Progress towards the reopening of the ARC arts and recreational centre has been swift since the new management team took over last month.

"Circumstances have created a rapid acceleration in the projected opening of the ARC,' said Dick Moran, the Chief Executive of the Caterham Barracks Community Trust. "It's very exciting. Our supporters and volunteers have been working really hard and having a management team on board has made my dream of a spring opening a reality."

The new management team is led by Beth Wood, the Outreach Director at the Harlequin Theatre and Artistic Director of ACT, a touring company that works out of the Harlequin performing to schools in the area. The team has set up much of the basic infrastructure at the ARC and will run the whole facility including the play area.

The venue has already been hosting comedy nights and Dick intends to open the soft play space to the public for the Open Day and have it available for the community for the following week (half term). Aldo Floris, the restauranteur and chef from 'La Fiaba' in Caterham Valley, has agreed to take responsibility for all the food in the ARC and will be running an Italian Caf¨¦ in the soft play area.

A Share Issue has been launched to fund the reopening and future running of the ARC, but Dick Moran and his wife Maria have personally contributed a loan of £55,000 to help get the ARC re-opened for the community this spring.

For more information about the ARC visit www.thearcdevelopmentproject. org.uk or www.caterhambarracks.org. uk