A CHURCH in Bournemouth is to undergo a £4m transformation into a special centre for children.

Punshon Memorial Church, opposite the BIC, has been purchased by a group of investors who have set up the John Lennon Hotel of Love & Peace Ltd to run the project.

Work on renovating the church hall section of the building will begin in the next two weeks and the company hopes to have the centre up and running by Christmas.

It is hoped the building will house a film club for children, recording studio, junior theatre and exhibition hall.

The garden will also act as a memorial to young people and local mum Jackie Munro, who lost her own son Alan at the age of 19 to an unexplained heart attack, has signed up to oversee that side of the project.

Claire Brown, spokeswoman for the John Lennon Hotel of Love & Peace Ltd, said: “The idea is not that we should own the church, but that it will be owned by four million children everywhere.

“We want to sell four million of these bricks for £1 so the property will always remain that of these children, so it can’t be knocked down, turned into a block of flats, it will always remain a centre for children and a place of worship.

“We want it to have a Beatles theme because of John Lennon’s belief in world peace and love.”

Claire got in touch with Jackie after reading her story in the Echo, calling for some kind of permanent memorial for young people in Bournemouth who had passed away. She added: “There’s a big brick wall on one side of the garden, so bricks with plaques will be sold to people for £1 and it’s somewhere they can go and sit and remember their loved ones.”

The company also plans to turn the rest of the building, which is currently residential, into a hotel for a cultural exchange project, once the residential leases have expired.

• A meeting is being held at the Celebrity Hotel in Bournemouth all day tomorrow for anyone wishing to find out more about the project.

For details about the memorial garden email Jackie Munro at jackiemunro8888@yahoo.co.uk.