Fresh efforts are being made to promote and improve Fakenham's cultural offering and encourage more visitors to the town.

They include plans to bring some of the region's top professional touring theatre companies, the investment of thousands of pounds in the town's community centre and the launch of a marketing campaign highlighting what Fakenham has to offer.

The campaign will see 25,000 leaflets sent out, promoting attractions including Fakenham's Hollywood Cinema, Fakenham Museum of Gas and Local History, Fakenham Racecourse, the Active in Fakenham Week and the town's popular markets.

Richard Crook, a town councillor and trustee of Fakenham Community Centre, who is working on the campaign, said: 'Fakenham has a lot to offer but tends to undersell itself.

'This is all about promoting Fakenham as a place to visit and it could help the town's economy and tourism appeal.'

Professional group East Theatre is booked in to perform Canada Boys at Fakenham Community Centre on April 4 and other shows are being lined up.

In the summer, FADLOS (Fakenham and District Light Operatic Society) will be performing Oklahoma and the society's junior section FADLOS Kidz is due to perform Les Miserables.

Mr Crook said: 'Fakenham has fantastic amateur theatre with FADLOS and we are hoping to complement this with some professional touring theatre.

'At Fakenham Cinema people can see National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company performances screened live, so there really is something for everyone, we just need to make more people aware of it all.'

As part of the plans to attract more professional theatre groups to Fakenham, improvements are being made to the community centre.

A £94,000 grant from Norfolk County Council's Community Construction Fund is being spent on refurbishments which include expanding the foyer, sound-proofing the bar and improving the toilets.

The work will be carried out between January and April.

Mr Crook said efforts will be made to minimise disruption to community centre users during this time.

There are also plans to secure funding to revamp the main hall in the new year and the garden area at the community centre has been improved with a view to it hosting outdoor theatre and other events.

All of this work is part of the long-term Fakenham Community Campus project – a planned £3m redevelopment of the community centre and surrounding site.

Janet Holdom, chairman of the community campus trustees said, after much work behind the scenes, she is pleased that people will soon be able to see work taking place.

She said: 'We hope to improve the facilities at the centre for existing users and to attract new interest.

'It has been a very lengthy process but we hope to have substantial improvements in place, ready for the first performance on April 4.'

Efforts are also being made to make the community centre more accessible to a wider audience.

Mr Crook said: 'As well as local residents we are keen to work with groups and villages.

'We are hoping to have some funding in place to help provide free or subsidised transport from nearby villages.

'If any group, for example schools, community groups or ad hoc groups of friends, are interested in coming to a performance we can look at ways to help if they need it.'

A new revamped website and Facebook page will be up and running in the new year, giving more details about the community campus project. In the meantime, people can visit www.facebook.com/pages/Fakenham-Community-Campus for updates.

Mr Crook can be contacted on 07887 803091 or emailed at richard@activefakenham.org.uk.

For tickets to the show Canada Boys, contact Lisa Mallett at Sweets 'n' Things, Oak Street, Fakenham on 01328 855172.