Local Snooker Club Restoration and Success

The snooker club on Broadley's, Clay Cross, closed its doors in 2017. It fell into a state of disrepair due to being repeatedly broken in to and vandalised, causing a great deal of damage to the site. It had become a hotspot for antisocial behaviour and drug-taking and was facing the possibility of a compulsory purchase order.

A group of local volunteers, including Parish Councillor Brian Wright, Director of ATB Civil Engineering Ltd. Wayne Watson, Landlord and Trustee Duncan Waring, and local contractor Ian Kerry felt that if this were to happen the site would be lost to the local people forever, so they set about work to halt the decline.

The snooker club initially had no funds and was financially in debt due to business rates owed to NEDDC. The volunteers worked tirelessly, donating their time, effort, skills and even their own money, and were able to restore and re-open to local residents in September of 2023. First one room and then another were brought back to use and recently they were able to open a third room to expand for the demand. There are now eight tables in regular use, and ongoing restoration is planned to bring the whole building back into use.

On its re-opening last year, Lee Hage took on responsibility for organising competitions and knockouts at the club. Many local people were and still are involved in its success, and the club now boasts 340 members. Having started last season with two teams in league divisions, there are now eight teams going into the next season. World-famous English snooker player Nigel Bond has been involved and put on an exhibition at the venue when it re-opened, he also played 12 frames with members to raise vital funds. In April 2024, Thai snooker professional Noppon Saengham held another similar event, helping further raise the club's profile, bringing in more restoration funds in the process.

The snooker club is now fully financially self-sufficient and recently broadened their membership base to include the local youth, offering Junior sessions with professional coaching from Alan Crownshaw. This is held on Sunday mornings 10-12am for just £5 per session, with no membership fees for Juniors (Juniors must be accompanied by an adult). Future plans include approaching NEDDC and other organisations for grants so that they can make the venue more disabled friendly and accessible to as many people as possible.

Events are currently being planned for September 2024 to celebrate the anniversary of the club's re-opening and information will be shared on these nearer the time.