End of an era for ‘Mr Lads and Girls Club’ (From Leigh Journal)

End of an era for ‘Mr Lads and Girls Club’

9:30am Thursday 4th February 2010 in Video

JERRY Glover has been synonymous with Bolton Lads and Girls Club for the past 32 years.

Some would say he IS Bolton Lads and Girls Club.

But all eras must come to an end. Now he is moving on to a new and challenging role that will see him using the skills he has gained over the past three decades to create new facilities across the North West.

At the end of last week, Jerry vacated his office at the Spa Road club, moving down the road (literally) to start his new job as chief executive of OnSide North West.

In his new position, Jerry, aged 56, will be working to create Lads and Girls Clubs — based on the Bolton model — in Wigan, Blackburn, Oldham, Manchester and Carlisle.

It sounds a daunting task but is all in a day’s work for Jerry.

He has been working part-time for OnSide and it seemed a natural move to make it a full-time career choice. Jerry, who was awarded the MBE, is modest about his achievements, prefers to cite the people involved in local industry, the local authority and the public of Bolton for the club’s success.

But it was his hard work and dedication that helped people realise Bolton Lads Club could be more than it was, when it used ageing premises in Bark Street for meetings.

In the late 1970s, when Jerry started as youth leader — there was just one paid member of staff and he was it — he knew things would have to change if the club was to move with the times.

“The club was still in the same premises it had been in since 1889 when well-meaning people in Bolton decided to set it up,” he said.

He battled on with what he had until 2002 when the new, multi-purpose premises was acquired in Spa Road. Jerry said it was a dream come true.

“I am passionate about what I do. Youngsters spend more than half their day not in school and they have got to have places in which they can develop and stay safe,” he said.

A huge lottery grant helped build the new club but a further £1 million had to be raised locally.

“The people of Bolton did what they do best and rallied round to raise the money,” he said.

Jerry is confident Lads and Girls Clubs like Bolton are the way forward to help give young people a place to go, where they can meet their friends and enjoy a range of activities.

“Things have moved on for adults but facilities for children have not,” he said. Youngsters from a range of cultures enjoy the club’s facilities, as do many disabled youngsters.

The club’s highly successful mentoring scheme has been a highlight of Jerry’s time.

Thanks to the scheme, hundreds of young people who are struggling in many different areas of their life get a mentor who will listen to them and offer support.

Jerry knows he faces an uphill task with his new job, but he relishes the challenge and his dream of seeing a Lads and Girls Club in every town in the UK is looking less of a pipe dream and more of a reality.

Jerry will be succeeded by his current deputy, Karen Edwards, who started as a volunteer at the club 15 years ago, working her way through a range of posts, including establishing the award-winning mentoring project.