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Bury Club welcome local community for official launch

Our new Club in Bury, Greater Manchester, was officially launched in style earlier this week as they welcomed people from the local community for a day of sporting reminiscence and fun at the Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre

The launch took place at the Art Museum under the backdrop of a special football exhibition, with L.S Lowry’s famous ‘Going to the Match’ painting on display at the museum, meaning visitors to the launch also got the chance to take in a historical piece of British art.

Launching in style

Jon Hobday, the Director of Public Health for Bury Council, opened the launch event by outlining the importance of such community groups like Sporting Memories which focus on reminiscing, reconnecting with old and new friends in local communities.

This was followed by a performance of a poem produced by local resident and Club volunteer Iain Dawson, who reflected on the power of Sporting Memories in his prose delivered to the audience in attendance.

Former Rochdale and Barnsley manager Keith Hill also produced a video message wishing the Club good luck on their launch, which was shown to the audience in attendance, alongside the Deputy Mayor of Bury coming along to share some of his football memorabilia at the launch as well.

Then there was the chance for attendees, including one of our ambassadors Sandy Mitchell, to find out more about Sporting Memories and what is involved in a session. This included informal conversations between attendees as they reminisced about their own sporting memories.

The impact of the launch was shown in the fact that many of the attendees have signed up to attend the weekly sessions at Gigg Lane, the home of Bury Football Club, over the coming weeks ahead.

Reaction from a great launch

Stefan Taylor, Health Improvement Specialist at Bury Council, was delighted with how the event went: “I think the official launch was really well received by those in attendance, and we had a good number of them speak about their sporting experiences and how that has impacted their lives.

“It was also brilliant to have so many interested in joining the Club at Gigg Lane on a regular basis moving forward, so hopefully we will be welcoming plenty of new members joining us soon!”

The Bury Sporting Memories Club takes place every Wednesday at Gigg Lane in Bury between 10:30am to 12pm. To find out how to join their weekly sessions, please email Stefan via s.taylor@bury.gov.uk