Tim Burgess helps raise £1500 for “iconic” Salford Lads Club to support deprived youth

Tim Burgess was amongst those who took part in an exhibition at Salford Lads Club on Sunday, raising £1500 for the charity.

The Charlatans front man held a stall for his record label and performed a live DJ set, providing entertainment for the more than 450 visitors and fans who came along to support the club.

Salford Lads Club, famed for featuring on the sleeve of The Smiths’ ‘The Queen Is Dead’ album, opened in 1903 and is regarded as the third biggest musical tourism location in the United Kingdom after Abbey Road and the Cavern Club.

Manager of the club, Leslie Holmes, said: “The special events are very important because we don’t have a marketing budget, and these things go out to far more people than we can reach.

“If you can get people through the door and people see what an astonishing place it is then people will support you.

The Smiths room at @salfordladsclub will be open as part of the Vinyl Adventures Record Fair on Sunday. Plus they’ll have their ace merch that raises funds to keep the club running pic.twitter.com/B6v5pCAzMF

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) 22 November 2018

“We had a guy on the music tour this morning who had come over from America, and when he heard Tim Burgess was here, he stayed an extra day.”

The club, which helps deprived boys and girls get into activities such as sport and music, is entirely self-funded.

The money raised at Sunday’s event will go towards the annual camp, which in the past has taken members to a native American reserve in South Dakota to coach football.

Tim Burgess, who lived in Salford as a child, said: “It’s always good to include the Lads Club.

“I’m a Dad and I want to bring my little boy to somewhere I’ve got history with.”

Through events like Sunday’s, the club has raised a million and a half pounds in the past 15 years and restored the majority of the building.

John-Paul Craven, brought Leeds’ Brudenell Record Fair to the event.

He said: “It’s such an iconic building.

“Places like this that encourage people to get involved in sport from a young age are great, and that’s where we should invest in so that the next generation come through.”

The club hopes a similar event will take place in 2019.