Barnard Castle Sports & Social Club is open for business.
Formerly known to most people in Teesdale as Glaxo Club and officially titled GSK Sports & Social Club, existing members have been reassured that the future for the vital community asset on Harmire Road is exceedingly bright.
A packed meeting of members was held in the club’s lounge last week and an interim project team was voted in to manage the transition.
Those attending were told that GSK’s business risk management group had identified the need for GSK Sports & Social Club to be transitioned into a self-sufficient entity, independent of the company.
Members also heard that the GSK branding must be removed from the building infrastructure and documentation and that the sports and social club needed to adopt a new name.
At the meeting, members endorsed the new name Barnard Castle Sports & Social Club and agreed to adopt the town crest as a logo.
The transition team is made up of the sports and social club’s business manager Sarah Hallimond, club treasurer Bruce Guthrie, plus long-term members Tim Sabey, Mike Clennell, Ralph Richardson and Tommy Norton.
Speaking to the Mercury, Sarah said: “We’re keen to get the message across that this is an exciting change for the future, we want people to come and use the place, we are not shutting down – in fact, the opposite is true, we’ve got lots of exciting plans for the future.”
Tim added: “When we had the meeting, people were very, very supportive of the change, generally seeing it as a positive thing and that Barnard Castle Sports & Social Club would be an asset for the town and the wider Teesdale area.
“At the moment, the sports and social club is legally part of GSK, but we’ll eventually become a separate legal entity which is why the branding has to change. We’re creating a new business plan and we are going to have to make sure we are totally financially independent.
“This will be a transitional year for us,” he continued. “The key thing is the name change and we’ve done that. Resolving the financial and legal aspects will take a while, but we’re optimistic we’ll have everything sorted before the end of the year.”
One thing the transitional team are keen to stress is the fact that the sports and social club isn’t just for GSK workers.
“We’re trying to get the message over that this is for everybody in the town and in Teesdale, you don’t have to work at the factory to be a club member,” said Ralph.
“The mindset that you have to work in the factory to use the club facilities has proved a barrier that’s been very hard to overcome.
“But once we change the name and we change the logo, people will hopefully understand that we’re here for everybody. You don’t have to have any connection at all with GSK to join the club.”
The team believe the newly branded Barnard Castle Sports & Social Club will provide the ideal venue for the dale’s many sports clubs and associations to use socially.
“We want to become a community asset,” said Tom. “There are a lot of sports clubs in the town and in Teesdale who don’t have social facilities and we think that there’s a key niche there for us to provide that for them.
“That gives us a clear purpose and a reason to exist so if there are clubs out there that are seeking a social centre then please come and talk to us.”
The transition team will rewrite the club’s constitution and are aiming to hold the new club’s annual general meeting in January 2027 followed by quarterly meetings to update members.
The change from GSK to Barnard Castle Sports & Social Club comes 80 years after the original Glaxo plant on Harmire Road started the production of penicillin in 1946. The sports and social club was established the following year.
