Built at a cost of around £2m with funding from within the parish, the Centre was completed in March of this year.

It was blessed by Bishop Anthony Farquhar on April 10 and has, since May, been steadily attracting a wide range of groups and organisations under its roof.

Its speedy success was clarified to those who attended Sunday's Open Day when they were able to tour the extensive facilities of the two storey building.

They include six meeting rooms, a snooker hall, a substantially sized community hall, a conference hall and rooms available for private function hire as well as the 'Old School' cafe which has been named the blackstone schoolhouse which was once located on the site of the new Centre.

The list of groups and organisations which now regularly use the ground level facilities alone is lengthy to say the least and include - the Spred Group, who provide support for young people with disabilities; the Seven Towers Senior Citizens' Club; All Saints Bowling Club; 7th Ballymena Scouts and Guides; the parish Bingo Group; Charismatic Prayer Group, The Alpha (interdenominational) faith Group; the Childcare Protection Team; St Vincent de Paul Core Group; a new Drama Group featuring several former Slemish Players; the Apostolic Workers; and, the Friends of Crebilly.

And come the end of this month, the former Kenbaan based St Vincent de Paul offices and highly popular Thrift Shop will open on the Cushendall Road side of the building in purpose built premises.

On its first floor, the Parish Centre has a seated balcony area for 'chilling out', three small offices, a hall set aside specifically for a new snooker club which is due to open in September, and the substantial 'Slemish' Conference Room complete with all the necessary facilities for projector and power point presentations.

Office space on that level has already been snapped up by the St John Order of Malta for courses in First Aid and, ACCORD whose members will be running a series of pre-marriage courses in June. Also, in September, the Belfast-based Family Ministry Group, established through the Diocese of Down and Connor, will be setting up an outreach facility there too.

While many of the Centre users are based in the parish of All Saints, the premises are cross-community and are open to one and all.

It's open seven days per week from 10.30-4.20 and 7pm-10.30 daily, and with a cafe on site can cater for functions from small parties and family celebrations to post funeral get-togethers and even weddings, featuring up to 130 guests.

Its manager Sadie Marron would welcome enquiries from groups, organisations and individuals who may wish to join the growing number of people who use the Centre.

So for those who missed out on the Open Day and who would like more information on all that the Centre has to offer the parish and wider Ballymena community, Sadie can be contacted there on 25631236.