York sports charity bids to buy hall used by railway since 1926

BBC News

4 days ago

A charity which runs sports clubs for all ages has launched a campaign to buy the hall it has used for a century.York Railway Institute's lease on the Queen Street venue expires in 2027, but owners Network Rail have given the organisation the option of purchasing the site from them.The charity now needs to raise £100,000 in its centenary year to secure the future of the building it has occupied since 1926.Mike Poulter, coach of York RI Juniors badminton team, said owning the sports centre would give people an chance to "be part of our future, as well as our past".
"There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of people in and around York who have played sport at the RI," he added.York Railway Institute was established in the 19th Century as a place for the city's railway workers to improve their education, and it had a library, classrooms and a dining hall.The locomotive erecting shops and carriage works next door were converted into a gymnasium by 1926, and there was a boxing ring which was later replaced with badminton courts.The Institute still hosts badminton tournaments at national level, as well as activities such as pickleball, squash and judo.Trustee Heather Robertson said it was fitting that the chance to buy the "much-loved" venue coincided with the centre's upcoming 100th anniversary. "Due to various works around the station, and the York Central development scheme, we've felt a little like we're on borrowed time."We've had really good support from Network Rail, especially since Covid, but the time has run out on that lease arrangement."Ms Robertson added that if the charity could not raise the funds in time, it would impact the clubs that used the facility, many of which compete under the York RI name.
"If this did disappear, you'd hope those clubs would survive and find a different venue but that seems like a difficult thing to do," she said."It not a case of just picking a different sports centre - there's nothing like it in terms of location and what it offers as a venue." Dermot Heslop, a judo coach and York RI treasurer, said the venue meant "an awful lot" to his family, who had been involved since the 1940s through working on the railways."If we can buy the building it gives me an opportunity to say thank you to the Railway Institute for everything it's done for me as an individual," he said."When you think of the demographic in York, there are people in their 80s who are playing here and there are children under the age of five."We have nationalities from all over the world that come to the venue."A Network Rail spokesperson said the organisation was "delighted to support the long-term future" of the York RI."Our teams have been working collaboratively with York RI to secure this historical building's future as a community sports facility," they said."This partnership reflects our commitment to supporting local communities whilst preserving railway heritage, and forms part of our broader Queen Street estate plans."York RI has a number of fundraising events planned until 2027, starting with a 24-hour "badminton-athon" on 2 August.Isobel Avey, supervisor at the centre, said that there was a "massive emphasis on community" among the teams that used the space."I'm excited to see how everyone is rallying around, that's a reflection of how much people love the place and want to keep it open."It would be such a shame for it to go, it would be so upsetting."
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