A MAKEOVER has breathed new life into an upper dale sports and social club.
Over the past year a band of more than 40 volunteers have been helping to transform the interior of Middleton-in-Teesdale Sports and Social Club, turning the main bar and function room from shabby to chic.
The refurbishment has also seen the front the club, run by a team of dedicated committee members, given a lick of paint. Committee member Ali Collinson said: “It has definitely needed it for a long time.”
As well as committee members, footballers from both Middleton Wanderers and the walking football teams rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to get the work done.
Natalie Mitchell, who joined the sports and social club committee in January, said: “We have had local businesses donating equipment and help as well.”
The new-look bar now streams Sky Sports on a TV donated by H and M Construction. The Village Bookshop gave a grant to help pay for materials needed for the makeover and Mitchell Digital did the sound system.
A glazed trophy cabinet, upcycled to match the new sports-bar colours,is ready to display trophies and tankards of the village’s teams.
Funding from the Arts Council will help pay for more improvements to the club’s function room, including a new backdrop for the stage and a sound system.
Ms Mitchell added: “The local volunteers have given up a lot of their time to get us to this point. It is still ongoing, and we do have big plans, but because we are a not-for-profit organisation it is very much dependent on what money is available.
“And the help to get the work done as well.
“Regular entertainment evenings including prize bingo, which helps raise funds for causes in the community, are attracting more people to the club.
Country music nights are increasingly popular as are tribute band evenings – and the committee has plans for more events throughout the year.
A new noticeboard with opening times and a what’s on section has helped to boost footfall and there are plans for a club website as well.
Mrs Collinson added: “The upshot of the makeover is we have had a lot more enquiries and bookings for parties. It’s great that we have the darts and dominoes teams come each week and the support of the football teams.
“The changes we’ve made are attracting more younger people now. The club used to be the last place you would go but now it is the first.
“It’s a massive work in progress.”
They hope to get a few finishing touches to the bar – hanging a Middleton Wanderers football shirt along with a signed shirt from village darts supremo Kirsty Hutchinson – as the football World Cup kicks off.
Ms Mitchell said: “We’re going to be streaming all the England matches in the function room as there will be more room. We’re trying to make the club the place to be to watch the matches.
“We are trying to make it a family orientated venue where you can bring the children as we have the soft play.”
For more information about Middleton-in-Teesdale Sports and Social Club visit https://www.facebook.com/middletonwmc
