Rugby club gives local young people a head start in construction with the help of Council’s Shared Prosperity Fund grant of nearly £20,000

The young people, along with volunteers with from the club renovated and re-decorated the whole club-house, including bar area, changing rooms and toilets, moving water-sensitive items into storage upstairs and lining external storage units.  As well as improving the facilities for new and existing club members and enabling the club to accommodate more women members, the club house is now available for event bookings.

VIY match- funded the Broxtowe grant with in-kind contributions from their trade partners Travis Perkins and Dulux, as well as funding from Sport England and Continental Tyres in partnership with Kwik Fit, which also included gifted merchandise as part of their sponsorship of England Rugby as well as funding from Sport England.

At the heart of the VIY’s delivery model, the refurbishment works were undertaken by a team of 19 young volunteers aged 14 and over, economically inactive/unemployed and disengaged or excluded from mainstream education and training. They learned and applied vocational trade skills on the job whilst being mentored by and working alongside, professional tradespeople (a mix of local volunteer mentors and VIY Lead Mentors). 16 of the young volunteers gained an Entry Level 3 City and Guilds trade skills accreditations. All the young volunteers received support in progressing to employment and further/higher-level training opportunities, including apprenticeships, after completing the project.

Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council and Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Asset Management, Councillor Milan Radulovic MBE, said, 'It is so encouraging to see that the Council’s grant has enabled young people to be introduced to the construction industry. Their employment opportunities will be improved as they can show they have hands-on experience in the sector.

This project is a great advertisement for what the Council and partners can do to make an impact on young people’s lives. The Shared Prosperity grant has also allowed the Beeston Casuals to improve their facilities and they hope to expand their local membership and develop their women’s teams.’'

Katie Booth, Programme Manager for the East Midlands at VIY, said, 'It’s been great to see our VIY mission expand across Nottinghamshire thanks to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Broxtowe Council.

This funding has allowed us to support and boost more vital community spaces and places, whilst helping more local young people learn trade and employability skills. The project timescale was a challenge but the hard work has paid off and the end result is fantastic.'

Steve Sarno from Nottingham Casuals said, 'The club has greatly benefited from the work undertaken by the team. We now have a repainted clubhouse, a totally remodelled bar, which will no doubt be enjoyed by the membership. So many thanks to all concerned.'

'The amount of time and effort put in by VIY and the volunteers has been phenomenal. It's been a great pleasure seeing the Rugby community come together to regenerate the inside space of Nottingham Casuals RFC. I'm sure it will be enjoyed for many years to come. Thank you all for your hard work”.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is UK Government funded and Broxtowe Borough Council has been allocated a total of £2,584,477 over a three-year period 2022-25. Activity funded in 2024/5 includes local business, skills and community projects, including a set of community grant-funded projects

VIY are a Community Interest Company that works with young people who are disengaged from mainstream education provision or currently unemployed as well as local community volunteers.

Trades skills mentors support those who participate and can gain Entry Level City and Guilds accreditations and access to further training, work-readiness and employment opportunities.

More information about Volunteer It Yourself is available at  volunteerityourself.org/ (Opens in a new window)