Young Volunteers Help Toolstation & VIY To Refurbish Gym

Social enterprise Volunteer It Yourself (VIY) recently joined forces with DIY and trade retailer Toolstation, painting and decorating merchants Dulux, supplier of market leading decorating tools Hamilton Decorating Tools and West Northants Council for its latest renovation project, transforming and refurbishing the interior of Rough N Ready Gym in Northampton. 

Rough N Ready provides the local community with a variety of martial arts-based classes designed for both beginners and experienced students. In addition to being used as a space for fitness enthusiasts, it also demonstrates the benefits of kickboxing as a form of self-defence and runs a free six-week self-defence class for women. 

Accessible to people of all backgrounds, abilities, and fitness levels, the Rough N Ready team work with various behavioural schools and the local police force who bring students to the gym for some downtime as a form of talking therapy. The club also sponsors many low-income households, providing free uniform and gradings. 

The gym, which has been based at Spring Lane for over 20 years, was in need of repair and refurbishment and recently underwent a transformation by partnering with VIY, Toolstation, Dulux and Hamilton, with match-funding from West Northamptonshire Council through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, who oversaw a two week renovation project with the help of 11 young volunteers aged between 16-18 years old - those who were NEET or at risk of becoming so. 

VIY combines volunteering and DIY to help young people learn building and construction skills on the job, by fixing local community venues in need of essential repairs. The project at Rough & Ready gym saw young volunteers redecorate the lower-level training facility, repainting the area in the club’s colours, refreshing the changing rooms, and supporting work to address underlying damp issues, with the assistance of supplies donated by Toolstation, Dulux and Hamilton Decorating Tools.

The transformation brings the space up to the same high standard as the rest of the facility, giving it a much-needed facelift and making it more attractive to new and existing members, as well as inspiring the next generation of martial arts trainees with more modern facilities.

In addition to creating a high-quality sporting hub for the local community, the VIY initiative is also helping more young people learn trade skills and consider a career in the construction and building industry, whilst renovating a space they may use and benefit from. 

Through its partnership with Volunteer It Yourself (VIY), Toolstation has helped create opportunities for the young people in attendance to gain City & Guilds qualifications and boost their employability skills. In total, 13 accreditations were awarded across Health & Safety and Painting & Decorating. 

Greg Richardson, Head of Marketing at Toolstation, said "The team at Rough N Ready are an amazing demonstration of the benefits communal spaces can bring to an area, and their work with local youth groups to help enhance the lives of younger generations is something we really resonate with as a business. 

“At Toolstation, we believe that supporting communities involves creating positive change where it's needed most. Partnering with VIY means we can help improve living conditions and share valuable skills with the volunteers from the local area. We believe that this project will encourage young people to develop confidence and learn practical trade and building skills and to consider a career in the trade.” 

Ed Sellwood, COO and Co-Founder at VIY, said: “We're proud of our long-term partnership with Toolstation, helping to inspire and diversify the next generation of tradespeople over the past five years, whilst helping to improve spaces that matter to communities where resources for improvements are scarces. We look forward to continuing our great work together into 2026 and beyond.” 

Toolstation has been supporting VIY since 2020 and will be with the social enterprise on a number of other projects throughout the year.

Source : Toolstation / VIY

Image : Toolstation / VIY

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