Companies and members of the local business community have been praised for stepping up in force after a football club’s urgent appeal for support featured in Daily Focus.
Bill Bratt, chairman of Stone Town FC, says he will be ‘eternally grateful’ to those who have pitched in to help the club get back on its feet after a £12,000 vandalism spree which left the clubhouse covered in paint, urine and faeces.
Windows and tiles were smashed, a ceiling was broken, a sit-on mower damaged, a television destroyed and chairs were slashed with a Stanley knife.
Repairs are now underway with more than £7,600 raised, and further help offered by tradespeople.
Bill told Daily Focus: “I am eternally grateful to everyone who has donated, and will be writing to them all individually. This has restored my faith in humanity.”
After seeing the story in Daily Focus, Stoke-on-Trent-based staircase manufacturer StairBox, alongside timber window supplier Wooden Windows, gave £4,000 to support the football club’s recovery.
Operations Director Mark Winter said: “Grassroots organisations like Stone Town Football Club are the backbone of local communities.
“We are delighted to be able to support Bill and the team during this challenging time and help them get back on their feet as quickly as possible.”
Other donations have included £1,000 from Newcastle-under-Lyme sheet metal fabricators KMF, and £250 from Xtraweld Services in Stone, as well as support from a number of individuals.
Brown Recycling, in Stoke-on-Trent, offered free skips and others have helped with decorating, plastering, electrical services, property services, an alarm, a fridge, and replacement furniture.
Bill built the clubhouse at Outlanes Sports Ground, off Old Road, more than 30 years ago and pays all the overheads himself, allowing the club to use the ground free of charge.
He discovered the damage on Tuesday, 10 February. The damage is estimated to come to £10,000 to £12,000. The building itself was covered by insurance, but the contents were not due to the remote location of the site.
Work to restore the clubhouse, which was renovated six months before the vandalism, has included plastering, painting, tiling, repairs to the ceiling, and fixing the mower. Two new floodlights have also been put up to deter intruders and new carpet is due to go down.
Bill estimates another month’s worth of work is needed, but added: “The Daily Focus appeal had a great impact.”
Daily Focus has contacted Staffordshire Police for comment.
The fundraising page is still live here.
The club takes on Tuns FC at Rocester Football Club in the Uttoxeter & District Sunday League’s Alan Featherstone Cup Final tonight.
Read the original Daily Focus story about the vandalism here.
