A one-day match with a Changing Rooms-style team of decorators has left a cricket club completely bowled over.

Bowling Old Lane Cricket Club in Bradford was given the revamp after the Government-funded New Deal for East Manchester group approached Bradford Trident and asked if any organisations in the area would benefit from help.

The East Manchester team were looking for a one-day building project and Bradford Trident put them in touch with the club.

Refurbishment of the community hall had been high on the club's improvement agenda so they were delighted - especially as the offer was accompanied by a £3,000 materials budget.

Haqueq Siddique, volunteer and cricket committee member, has been co-ordinating the renovation.

He said: "This is a great bonus for us. Most of the work that happens here is on a voluntary basis so this sort of contribution makes a big difference."

The cricket club has 120 active members. In addition to the cricket the club also focuses on youth work. It works with local schools to keep youngsters off the streets and uses sport to channel interests away from street crime.

When the hall is finished the club hopes to widen its community use - with coffee mornings and jumble sales for pensioners, art, music and dance classes for women and children and groups for seven-to-13-year-olds. Mr Sid-dique said: "We want local people to use the facilities. The club has been here for a hundred years. It is in the heart of the community and we want every member of the community to use it."

Sean McGonigle, co-ordinator for New Deal for East Manchester, said: "Each year we have away days. Bradford has a really successful New Deal programme so we offered them a free resource."

Mark Fielding, Bradford Trident neighbourhood manager, said: "We are so happy we have been able to put the groups together. The cricket club are going from strength to strength - they have won two leagues and were runners-up in two cups."

The cricket club has two Saturday teams in the Bradford League and an under-15s team who play on Sunday. The under-11s are involved in Bradford's Beyond the Boundary project, which encourages more people from the Asian community to visit the Dales.

Mr Siddique said: "It's been a good season on the pitch and a good season off it."

e-mail: ali.davies@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

TRIDENT'S TRANSFORMATIONS
  • Bradford Trident was formed in 2000 to deliver the Government's New Deal for Communities programme.
  • It is a community-led company working to transform the Park Lane, Marshfields and West Bowling areas.
  • Working in partnership with public, private and voluntary sector organisations, including the police, the NHS, schools and Job Centre plus, Trident has made significant changes in the BD5 area.
  • Rates of burglary and vehicle crime have fallen while educational standards have risen. Unemployment has fallen, old community facilities have been enhanced and new ones created.
  • In total, more than 200 projects have been commissioned.