Hebden’s hub!

Unite Community volunteers in West Yorkshire have come to the aid of a flood-hit Trades Club in the town of Hebden Bridge.

Around 10 volunteers from across the region have been travelling to the village in recent weeks to renovate the ground floor of the historic trades club, which was devastated by the 2015 floods.

The club, now owned by the Labour Party, was built in 1924 by subscriptions from trade union members in the textile industry, who each bought a brick for its construction.

Although the community hall and Labour Party rooms downstairs were wrecked, the renowned non-profit social club and music venue upstairs survived the deluge and became a hub for the town’s flood victims.

After hearing that the insurance pay-out to rebuild the club will not cover the price of turning the premises into a modern flood resilient  venue with amenities for disabled people, Unite community members, along with other local volunteers, stepped in to help.

Unite community member Matt Keithley, from Morley, was one of those who spent the last two weekends at the club lugging debris into skips outside, with the volunteers returning to finish the job this weekend.

“It’s been a big job. There was about 12 tonnes of rubbish to come out. We were lucky there were a few lads with strong backs to get it all cleared,” said the 40-year-old musician, who is planning to organise gigs with bands from Leeds to raise money for the club.

Camaraderie

“I like the camaraderie and working with people who have a like mind. At the end of the day when you’re all in a room together and you’ve got a job to be done, it gets done.”

Unite Community member Roger O’Doherty, who is 65 but “can still swing a hammer”, travelled from nearby Mytholmroyd to get stuck in.

“I think we’re all very pleased with the results. We saved quite a bit of money, because any company going in there would have had to start with the demolition, which would have cost a fortune,” he said.

“There’s more to be done and we’ll carry on doing what we can. It’s a terrific way of making links with other people and doing something that’s a little bit different.”

Local Labour councillor Allison Miles, who helped organise the project, said those links will continue into the future.

She said, “We want to restore the building for full use so it’ll be a really good space for the community and the arts. But the main thing is, we want to restore the trade union links to the building because it was built by the trade unions in the first place and that’s kind of been lost.”

Unite Community regional coordinator John Coan said the renovation is just one of a number of initiatives in the area.

He said, “We’re planing on building a branch in that part of the world. Along with the benefit work we do at Halifax Job Centre and the libraries campaign in Huddersfield, it’s another concrete example that shows what Unite Community does.”

Organisers hope to raise ÂŁ100,000 to get the club up and running. For more details on fundraising and volunteering efforts, contact John Coan at john.coan@unitetheunion.org or visit the Unite Community website.

Pics by Neil Terry