THERE will be hot times at a Worcester social club after a Big Lottery grant is spent on warming the place up.

The committee running Rainbow Hill Social Club in Mayfield Road put an application for cash in when it realised its boiler was getting a little past it after pumping out the heat for the last 45 years.

And they have been awarded £9,500 which, together with £3,000 the 150 members have raised themselves, will be enough to upgrade the boiler and improve the insulation on the windows.

Steve Lane, committee member, said: “The total allowed under this scheme is £10,000 so I put in the application in November at just under that amount as we had the extra money from our own fund-raising and events.

“It took nearly six months, but the money is in the bank now and we’re in the process of getting the work started.

“The building is only partially insulated and we found that the oil-fired boiler was not very efficient any more.

“We were a bit surprised to find it was 45 years old and we have had to keep patching it up to keep it going. We also needed to do some work on the windows.”

The National Lottery Big Lottery Grants are available to non-profit organisations such as the Rainbow Hill Club, which used to be known as the ex-servicemen’s club. It now attracts members of all ages and from all over the area.

“We had to put in quite a careful application to establish the reasons why a community organisation such as ours should get the money,” Mr Lane said.

“The club is pretty popular and we get members from as far as Malvern join us, as well as from the Rainbow Hill area. We run all kinds of events and we like to think it’s a really good community social club.”

The club is run by the committee and is also used as a venue for parties and wedding receptions.