Community Payback, an organisation in Tameside has set up a community service programme at Droylsden Football Club, where a group of offenders on probation are helping out the club.

The club needs various jobs doing to help it get back up and running again after it went out of business during the pandemic and the group are helping out with this by offering their services. Some of the jobs that need doing include cleaning, painting and decorating, and gardening. The group, containing members aged between 18 and 70, have been working at the club for just over two weeks, doing five days of work a week.

Community payback co-ordinator Stuart Greenwood, whose role is to source projects within the Tameside area using people on probation, told us how the opportunity came about, “Obviously there was a situation at Droylsden where due to covid, the team folded, and they’re trying to get going again. A lot of work needs to be done within the stadium. There was a meeting, so I went along and offered the services of community payback”, said Greenwood.

He was also keen to stress the importance of Droylsden F.C. getting back up and running, and the positive effect it would have on the community, “It is very important, the club had been running for over 100 years before it folded, and it a big blow for the people of Droylsden”. “We just wanted to give something back to the club, by using people on probation to help out”, he added.

The jobs that the group are doing are obviously helping the club massively, but Stuart believes that the experience can also help those involved, as it gives the people on probation a sense of purpose, “It’s not just a great opportunity for the club, but the people on probation too, as it is a way of getting them back into work and into a routine”.

Stuart also stressed how much he personally enjoys the job that he does, saying “I love my job, I love being around Tameside and I take pride in what me and my team do, and I really appreciate both the supervisors and all the lads”.

In terms of when the work will be finished Stuart did not give a time frame, and said that even when the work is done, he wants to maintain a relationship between himself and the club, “I don’t have a time scale, when the work is done the intention is to continue working with the club afterwards, and in the future”.

Stuart says this is not the only project that he and his team have got going on at the moment either, and that they have many plans for the future, “We have got a lot of projects running at the minute within Tameside, we are currently working at Tameside Cemetery and King George’s Park, and even have projects at other sports clubs such as Mossley Football Club and Aldwinians Rugby Club.

The hope is that the work at Droylsden will be finished very soon, and that the club can get back up and running as soon as possible.

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