THE former Victoria Arms pub in East Reach, Taunton, is re-opening as a café run by Taunton Association for the Homeless on Tuesday, June 29.

The charity is also converting the upstairs into a head office and turning the skittle alley and another area into meeting and function rooms for hire.

The move follows a £740,000 Communities and Local Government grant to help Taunton Deane Council buy Lindley House homeless hostel outright and to enable TAH to refurbish next door Alfred House as a training centre.

Meanwhile, volunteers Henry Carpenter and Richard Atkinson are running Plymouth Half Marathon on Sunday to raise funds for TAH, which is an official charity at the event.

And staff and residents are inviting people in Taunton town centre to get involved with the TAH Lego Challenge on Saturday, June 5 as part of National Family Week.

People are being asked to build a house or shelter with lego supplied by the hostel to add to a village.

The fun takes place outside the front of Café Nero throughout the day.