Staff at a Leeds youth centre used by hundreds of people for sport, dance and drama are jumping for joy after being named the winners of a free makeover donated by Connaught. Partnerships Ltd.

The Hunslet Club in South Leeds has won the main prize as part of the Connaught Advent Calendar campaign that rewarded local good causes throughout December and as a result will receive their first makeover in over thirty seven years completely free of charge.

After making the shortlist for the vote conducted via the Radio Aire website, the South Leeds public firmly backed the Hunslet Club as they polled three times as many votes as the other two shortlisted projects combined. Over the coming weeks the Connaught team will strip back the floor of the 260 sq metre sports hall to restore the Canadian wood to its former glory and completely refurbish the male and female changing rooms, while also improving the guttering of the whole building.

“This is fantastic news!” says Hunslet Club Funding Officer Jason Slack. “We firmly believe that the children and young people in this part of Leeds deserve a games and performance space where they can have fun and proudly show what they can do with their sport, dance and drama skills and by winning this wonderful prize they now have an even better opportunity to do this.“

The campaign to drum up votes for the competition included posters in shop windows, club members delivering flyers to their neighbours door to door and the setting-up of dedicated campaign group on the social networking website facebook.com. Jason added: “Local people really got behind this campaign in a big way as they voted and persuaded their friends and families to do likewise and we are immensely proud of the support they’ve shown for our work in the community.”

Founded in 1940, the youth charity continues to run dancing football, boxing, gymnastics, drama and fitness activities for young people aged four to 18 with some even going on to become professional football and rugby players. In addition, the club now also runs a vocational education centre for over three hundred and eighty year 10 & 11 students to gain qualifications in practical work based skills.

Andy Green, Connaught area director, said: “Connaught has always placed great emphasis on making a lasting contribution to the areas in which we are working and we are thrilled to see such a deserving cause as the Hunslet Club be selected by the public to receive a much-needed makeover.

“After visiting the club it is impossible not to be impressed by the tremendous work they do with such a cross section of the local community, from young children learning gymnastics to teenagers trying their hands at car mechanics or hairdressing and adults honing their boxing skills, and we hope the newly renovated building will help inspire them even further. “

The Radio Aire vote was part of a campaign in which Connaught invited all its Leeds based property improvement partners to nominate a local group or individual they felt deserved some extra special recognition during the festive season. As a result, West North West Homes Leeds, Aire Valley Homes, Leeds Federated Housing and Leeds Learning between them selected 23 good causes who each received a Connaught donated gift or service during the days in the lead up to Christmas.

Good causes to benefit included the Fairfield Community Centre in Bramley who were presented with a 10ft Christmas Tree to help spread some much-needed festive cheer among the regulars at the centre, Connaught refurbishing facilities within local schools, providing funding and tools for a healthy eating allotment project, staff helping to clean-up unsightly community areas, electrical goods for community centres and throwing well-deserved Christmas parties for members of active local groups.

Connaught is working in partnership with West North West Homes Leeds, Aire Valley Homes and Leeds Federated Housing to deliver improvements to thousands of homes across the city.