On 11th June 2022, Zoe and Anthony Groves will run the 26.2 miles of the Swaledale Marathon.

This will take them up and down some of Yorkshires steepest and finest dales.

The aim is to raise £47,000 for the Salford Lads & Girls club, which was set up in 1903 to brighten young lives and make good citizens.

The last 2 years of COVID has significantly damaged this clubs’ operations and finances 

A club that was set up during the first industrial revolution that now needs a lifeline to safeguard its future and those of the many young people whose lives it continues to positively affect today.

The Salford Lads & Girls Club

The Salford Lads & Girls Club is a voluntary club in for disadvantaged young people living in Salford, Manchester.

It was founded in 1903 by two brothers who owned a local brewery, Groves & Whitnall.  James and William Grimble Groves set the club up to provide positive experiences for young people to keep them off the streets and out of gangs.

The Salford Lads & Girls Club is run from a Grade 2 listed building and is the last club of its kind still operating in England, continuing to provide a rare form of social provision for local children and young people.

Today the club is largely unchanged and boasts fantastic facilities including a large parquet floored sports hall, a concert hall and 3 boxing gyms. The young people who attend the club all live locally on the Ordsall Estate where many families face multiple aspects of poverty and long term deprivation.

The club provides a lifeline to 170 young people who participate in a wide range of activities of sports and arts for 40 weeks per year with boxing, football, cooking, dance and drama as the main activities. 

The club also provides the children with transportation and access to a wide variety of activities unavailable in the local community, like BMX bike riding, climbing, sports competitions and to see plays and concerts. 

Every year since 1904 the club has organised an annual camp, taking young people off the estate to spend a week in Wales in an outward bound environment.  An original games room displays 115 framed photographs of the club's annual camp dating back to 1904.

The only years this camp has not taken place are over the two World Wars and now for the last two years due to COVID.

Our founding aim “To Brighten Young lives and Make Good Citizens” is still as relevant today as it was in 1903 and our team of volunteers, most of whom grew up on the estate continue to pass on these values to young people.

Prior to Covid we had 170 young people attending each week. 

We have 6 ABA qualified boxing coaches and 7 FA qualified football coaches who volunteer at the club. We have a paid club leader and 2 sports coaches from the Salford Reds Foundation. 

Some members do return as young adults having passed through the criminal justice system; they do this knowing the club as a place to regain confidence in society again.  Sometimes this is as simple as offering daytime boxing sessions with our qualified coaches and the chance to talk.

Aside from its history and statutory youth provision, it was the famous 1985 photograph of music band The Smiths standing outside the front doorway by Stephen Wright that has immortalised the club for fans today.

It is this that now annually attracts 10,000 fans who make their pilgrimage to the club which presents its own commercial opportunity for the club.

Finances and fundraising

We design and create our own Salford Lads Club merchandise from our archive which is sold to visitors onsite and online, which references various aspects of the club's history and heritage. 

Furthermore we work with film/TV companies and fashion brands to use key locations in the building to film in providing much needed revenue for the club; this includes the recently released 6th series of Peaky Blinders which filmed the political rally scenes at the club.

These efforts are all evidenced in the financial accounts whereby 44% of the clubs’ revenues are derived from grants and 39% from merchandise, sales and facilities hire; a further 15% is derived from charitable donations.

Just 2% of our revenues come from membership subscriptions; young people pay just £2 per year to join and £1 each session they attend.

Over 2020 and 2021 the Salford Lads & Girls club has suffered from significantly reduced income as a direct function of COVID.

Firstly the pandemic prevented people from visiting and members denied access to the club due to lockdown. As a direct result all facilities based revenues (filmshoots, photoshoots etc) were heavily impacted.

Furthermore grant revenues were significantly reduced due to a much more competitive funding environment, with ever increasing numbers of organisations needing money after suffering losses during pandemic.

The last 2 years have not been easy on the club.

Our challenge

Pre-covid we were able to make ends meet by a combination of self-generated income streams (donations, online merchandise sales) and from a base level of grant funding. 

The clubs annual operating costs are £195,000 and we are now operating to a £47,000 deficit for the 3 months to March, with no immediate improvement foreseen after that.

The Salford Lads & Girls Club has survived two World Wars.

Our resolution is that COVID will not prevent us from continuing to serve our original purpose, to brighten young lives and make good citizens.

The lifting of international travel restrictions and the club now reopening should allow us to begin to return to normality, but the club also really needs our help now.