Tom Towers ‘veteran’ returns to hand over cheque to youth club
Tom Towers has evolved into Hinckley Club 4 Young People
A MAN has donated £1,000 to the group that supported him through his youth.
David Abbott wrote out the cheque for The Hinckley Club 4 Young People, which has evolved out of a boys’ club founded by Tom Towers.
He hopes the donation will encourage groups and businesses in the area to consider supporting the project.
David joined the club when he was eight when it was on Brame Road and consisted of a large wooden hut with two rooms, complete with a snooker table, television and piano.
He used to perform in a gymnastics team at summer fetes, somersaulting the box width and lengthways in a routine with military precision.
A new brick building was built in Stoke Road, partly with the help of members, opened in the early 1960s by Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson.
The club had a large hall which was used primarily for gymnastics, table tennis and 3 or 4-a-side football.
There was another large room for members to relax and socialise and there was a quiet room where committee meetings were held as well as being a space for peace and quiet.
Changing rooms, showers and a large canteen were also included.
The vast field outside provided a football pitch, initially in the South Leicestershire league and later in Nuneaton Leagues.
The group’s success spanned well over 50 years, with girls allowed to join in the 1970s.
Over time, growing costs and wear and tear meant the facility became less sustainable.
During the 2000s, the club’s management committee worked with Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and others to create a fun, safe and modern place for young people.
Thus the Green Towers Hinckley Club 4 Young People was born.
In November 2008, the project was awarded £6.7 million to build a world-class facility on Richmond Park off Tudor Road, just a stone’s throw away from the old Boys Club.
The name Green Towers was acknowledgement of Tom
aTowers, the founder of the original club.
Club chairman Reg Green said: “I first met Tom Towers in 1953 when I joined the club situated in Brame Road.
“Later I continued my affiliation at the Stoke Road club as a member, though after the club had had several full-time leaders, John Reekie, chairman, who was also managing director of Sketchley Cleaners, came to me with the suggestion that the senior members take over the running of the club on a voluntary basis.
“These members consisted of my brother Rhett Green, Steve Hopewell, Peter Basford,
Robert Broughton, Scotton.
“Together we ran the club for some months, which proved to be challenging, so the chairman asked that one of the senior members should take over the leadership.
“They chose me and as such I continued to run the Stoke and
Ron
Road club
2010.
“Since then I have been a senior leader and chairman at our new location on Richmond Park i.e. the Hinckley Club 4 Young People”.
Green Towers opened its doors to the community in October 2010, achieving a number of very steep milestones.
In the first three months, it had achieved its first 1,000 young members and by the end of 2019 this will have risen to 6,500.
Around 700 young people regularly frequent the facilities and activities on offer during the week, which includes sports, wall climbing, fitness, music and arts.
The club also has a thriving youth hub where the young people can eat/drink and socialise.
The youth club operates Monday to Friday from 6 to 9pm (for 8 to 19 year olds, on a Thursday for ages up to school year 9 only) and on Saturday afternoons from noon to 3pm, a session open to families.
For more information, call Hinckley 230468, email office@ greentowers.co.uk or visit the Green Towers website. until its closure in