Projects

Hunslet Warriors Rugby League Club

Completed: 2022
Location: Leeds
Region: North West
Other local partners: Sport England, Dulux

About the project

Hunslet Green Community Sports Club, the home of Hunslet Warriors Rugby League Club, has been a hub for local people in the South Leeds area, providing opportunities to play rugby from the under 6’s level right through to adult level. With a desire to make the club more inclusive to female players, and those with disabilities, the club employed the help of VIY to make this happen.

Over the course of several weeks, our VIY mentors helped 60 young people from the local area, including 23 from Broomfield Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre, volunteer on the project to help convert a disused male changing room into their first female changing room, implement a new physio room and match day kitchen, and redecorate existing changing rooms and the entrance to give the club a modern feel.

With funding from Sport England and the Rugby League World Cup’s CreatedBy programme, and materials supplied by Travis Perkins Leeds Coal Road and Dulux UK, a whopping 123 City and Guilds accreditations were achieved by the young volunteers.

Our lead Mentor on the project, Saj, was full of high praise for the young volunteers, and first time VIY Mentor, Matloob Hashimi, said:

‘My first project was kind of an eye opener. On my first day I was really nervous because I had never worked with young people. After a few days I was thinking all of those years ago, I was like these kids, learning from someone to improve my skills. My favourite part was at the end of the day I would ask the kids if they enjoyed themselves and learnt anything that day, and with a big smile, they would say YES’.

The transformation of the Hunslet Green Community Sports Club is a perfect example of how refurbishments - including painting and decorating - of local centres have the power to change lives for the better and bring communities closer together. Alison Furness, Marketing CSR Manager, AkzoNobel UK and Ireland
For my first time seeing a VIY project in action, it was incredible to see the work being put in by mentors and volunteers to support the young people in their work. The sense of pride and achievement that the kids felt upon completion each day was evident in their enthusiasm to make more progress the next day! Ben Rayner, Nottingham Trent University undergraduate gaining work experience with Team VIY