Alistair Hardaker |
Grade II-listed youth club receives Historic England funding through Heritage at Risk Capital Fund for roof and masonry repairs.
Salford Lads and Girls Club has reopened following major repair works funded by over £450,000 from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Capital Fund.
Paul Dennett, Salford City Mayor, and Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford, visited the Grade II-listed youth club on 15 May to mark its reopening. They were welcomed by the club’s chief executive Laura Slingsby and Historic England’s co-chief executive Claudia Kenyatta.
The funding supported roof slate replacement and brick and terracotta masonry works at the building, which was founded in 1903. Originally established for boys, the club now welcomes girls and provides sport, music, drama, fitness and creative activities for young people.
During the roof repairs, workers’ names were found scribed inside the dome.
Laura Slingsby, chief executive of Salford Lads and Girls Club, said the project was “about more than bricks and mortar”.
“It is about protecting a place of belonging, memory, music, youth work and community pride. The completion of these works marks a major step forward as we continue to build the next chapter of Salford Lads and Girls Club.”
The building is known for its association with Greater Manchester band The Smiths, after a photograph taken outside its front entrance became the inside cover of the band’s 1985 album The Queen is Dead.
The club has a dedicated Smiths room and an archive documenting more than 22,500 members, commemorated on a five-metre Wall of Names.
Rebecca Long-Bailey, MP for Salford, said the investment would “help protect the fabric and future of a Grade II listed building that means so much to people in Salford and far beyond.”
Salford Lads and Girls Club is one of 37 historic sites across England supported by the Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, and one of six projects funded in the North-West. Following the initial £15m fund, the government has committed up to a further £60m to support at-risk heritage across England.
Image: L-R Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, Laura Slingsby Chief Executive Officer at Salford Lads and Girls Club, Claudia Kenyatta Co-CEO of Historic England and Rebecca Long-Bailey MP for Salford outside Salford Lads and Girls Club. © Jon Super/PA Media Assignments
