SPORTS Minister Gerry Sutcliffe hailed the efforts of volunteers who gave up their weekend to help a village cricket club get ready for the new season.
More than 200 people got to work at Sacriston Colliery Cricket Club, near Durham City, as part of the NatWest CricketForce initiative.
Members of Durham County Cricket Academy and Chester-le-Street Sea Cadets helped with the DIY.
The work to get the ground ready for the Northumberland and Tyneside Senior League season included painting wooden seats, clearing litter and making sure fences were in good order.
The club was chosen by its peers to be the county’s showcase club for the initiative, the biggest sporting volunteering programme in the country.
The club is also having a new wooden pavilion to replace the brick structure it used for many years. The £60,000 facility is due to be ready when the first ball of the new season is bowled in about three weeks.
Mr Sutcliffe told the helpers: “You can take great heart from what you have done here today.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here