I’m a director of the sports club and also the secretary of the hockey club. The wider sports club includes about half a dozen different sports, but my main role is with hockey.

I’ve been writing a weekly newsletter for the hockey club for about ten years now, that’s probably around 400 editions. They’re illustrated with photographs. Every week after the first team plays, the women played today and the men play tomorrow, I also submit a match report to the local newspaper, and they always want a photograph to go with it.

Ben Rhydding and Bradford can feel like two quite different things. Ben Rhydding is relatively affluent, and it’s a nice place to live. We’re also fortunate that hockey is still thriving here, whereas in other parts of Bradford, clubs are struggling, and numbers are declining.

For me, it’s important that Ben Rhydding is part of Bradford and contributes to it, politically and culturally. I feel quite strongly about that, even though not everyone here necessarily agrees. I’ll be honest, as I’ve got older, I don’t travel into the city as much as I used to, and I haven’t seen as many of the City of Culture events as I would have liked. That’s one of the reasons projects like this are important, because a lot of cultural activity doesn’t naturally reach the villages.

Both of my daughters play junior hockey here, and I also play in the senior section myself. For me, it’s really important. I love the joy of playing hockey on a Saturday morning, seeing everyone running around, laughing, and being part of a team.

Keeping girls involved in sport is something I really care about. We have teams from under 12s through to under 18s, and those years are crucial. Sport helps build friendships, confidence, and team spirit, things they’ll hopefully carry with them for the rest of their lives.

What I love about this club is that it’s truly cross-generational. In the match I was just watching, some players were 13 years old, and others were 72. That range is incredible. Some of the older players have been playing together since school, and now they’re grandparents. It’s really special to see.

It’s a thriving club full of lots of people from around the community of all ages playing hockey. I think people in Yorkshire, particularly around Bradford and Leeds, are very warm and welcoming. What makes this area special is that you get the best of both worlds: city life with Bradford and Leeds nearby, and beautiful countryside and moors right on your doorstep. It’s a wonderful place to live.

Many of our members are involved in creative activities alongside sport, musicians, people who do arts and crafts, artists, and makers. Today is a great example of that. One of our members has a stall here selling handmade crafts, wooden items, jams, and pickles, raising money for the club. It shows how people bring all parts of themselves into the club, not just their sporting ability.

Sport creates connection. From my own experience, and especially for our juniors, hockey gives you an instant community. It teaches teamwork, leadership, and resilience, skills that stay with you for life, not just on the pitch.

I joined the club back in 1983. I met my husband, who also played for Ben Rhydding, while I was living in Ireland, where I’m originally from. Shortly after that, I moved over here and joined the club, and I’ve been playing ever since. I’m now 67 years old, and I’m still playing, along with many of my contemporaries. We have masters teams as well as our league teams, and around 200 young people coming through the club. It really is a wonderful, friendly place to be.

We really see ourselves as one big family. We look out for each other, nurture our younger players, and help them grow. For me, culture is about identity and belonging, feeling that you’re part of something and being able to express that in whatever way feels right for you. Sport is one of the ways I’ve done that throughout my life.

Yes, both of my sons have played here. My older son still plays for the club, and he currently plays for the first team. He’s now 39. My older grandchild plays in the under-10s, and he’s playing regularly now. Hockey has always been a big part of our family. My husband also played here for many years, until an injury meant he couldn’t continue anymore.

I’ve been here about 28 years. I started off just playing cricket, then gradually helped out more and more when the previous grounds man needed support. I really hope Bradford 2025 is a success. Bradford’s one of the most diverse cities in the country, with people from all backgrounds, and that extends out to places like Ilkley and Ben Rhydding too.

I usually have music on while I’m working, but creatively, it’s what you can actually see, the stripes on the grass. We’re limited by time and practical needs, but presenting the club well is a big part of the job. If people turn up and see a beautifully striped pitch or lawn, that makes a difference. On sunny days like this, when the stripes really show, it feels worth it.

You see it on football pitches all the time, those stripes are half the battle. It’s a bit of creative freedom really. We know what we have to do, cut, roll, prepare, but the stripes let us add a bit of flair.

Each team tries to raise extra funds to help with the running of the club, and as you can see, it’s a big setup. About 99% of what happens here is run by volunteers. I run a Christmas stall, and over the next few weeks, whatever money I raise gets donated back to the club. I’ve been doing that for about four years now.

I do a lot of woodwork and upcycling. For example, one of the dinosaur pieces is made from a bit of oak that came from a friend’s old solid oak kitchen door. The railway figures came from my partner’s parents’ old model railway set, I’ve reused them on peg boards and thermometers. All the wood I use is offcuts from my brother-in-law. I also use old buttons, postcards, picture frames, things that would otherwise be thrown away.

I really enjoy doing the woodwork. I’m not a salesperson at all, I just sit here and chat to people. I enjoy doing things with my hands, and if it helps the club, that’s a bonus.

Yes, I think creativity isn’t just big city stuff. It’s here too, in villages, in clubs like this. I love gardening, I love being outdoors, I love DIY. I’m not a stay-inside person at all. I like making, fixing, doing.

I’ve been a long-time supporter of Ben Rhydding Sports Club in its many forms, particularly the cricket and hockey sections. At the moment, one of my roles is as a commentator for a local radio station, where we commentate on the hockey matches.

It’s an incredible club. We’re the largest sports club in the valley, with around 1,000 playing members. When you factor in parents, supporters, visiting teams, and volunteers, we probably have between 2,000 and 4,000 people on site every single week, all year round. Clubs like this create belonging. They help people, especially young people or those new to an area, build friendships, stay connected, and feel part of something. Individual sport is great, but team sport builds community, and that’s what this place is really about.

Poetry is often underrepresented in schools, but it’s a hugely accessible creative form. Writing a poem can be much easier than writing a book, a haiku might only be three lines, a limerick five. It allows young people to experiment with creativity without feeling overwhelmed.