Sixteen young people joined senior bosses from paint company Dulux to carry out restoration work at Winchmore Hill Sports Club

Winchmore Hill Cricket Club and (inset) the volunteer decorators

Winchmore Hill Sports Club has been spruced up by a team of volunteers.

The historic club, founded in 1880 at The Paulin Ground, has benefited from refreshed changing rooms, creating a “safe, inclusive and welcoming space” to grow its women and girls’ football teams.

The project was completed with help from paint company Dulux, through its partnership with social enterprise Volunteer It Yourself (VIY), which helps connect community groups with talented people willing to give up some of their spare time.

And as Winchmore Hill Sports Club was the 200th project completed as part of the partnership, many of the paint firm’s top bosses also joined in.

Bob Giles, Winchmore Hill Sports Club’s director, said: “We are so thankful to Dulux and Volunteer It Yourself for helping to revitalise our changing rooms, creating safe, welcoming and inclusive spaces for our women and girls’ football teams.

“This sports club is incredibly important to our community and getting young people involved in sport and wellness from a young age. The changing rooms we had previously were very outdated and not suitable for current use. It was therefore essential we updated these spaces in order to fit the growing demand for youth sports, especially women and girls’ teams.

“Seeing so many volunteers, both from Dulux and VIY, pitch together to change lives through colour has been truly inspiring and we look forward to the benefits these updates will bring to our club.”

Through the Dulux-VIY partnership, young people mentored on these projects are connected to apprenticeship opportunities within painting contractors and are then offered further support at the Dulux Academy, described as “the home of painting and decorating excellence”.

Peter Howard, sustainability lead at Dulux’s parent company AkzoNobel, said: “We are incredibly proud to have partnered nationally with Volunteer It Yourself for the past four years, supporting not only hundreds of incredible community transformation projects but also training thousands of young people in construction skills. It has been inspiring to see the amazing work we have achieved together, now reaching our 200th community project, all of which leave communities with a lasting colourful legacy.”

Hannah Denny, communications and partnerships manager at Volunteer It Yourself, added: “We know how important it is to give opportunities to young people who otherwise feel like they may not have them. Through equipping them the tools for success, we are proud to make a difference in thousands of people’s lives. Offering vocational training to young people is vital to creating a stronger future for the painting and decorating industry as we look to build the new generation of talent.”

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