In recent years, our much loved Doncaster Jazz Centre - home of DYJA, has begun to look a little downbeat in its appearance. Diminished funding and financial hardship has meant that though the centre is used on a regular basis, there is very little left in the coffers to make it look as good as the calibre of musicians it generates. It was time for action!

Without the money to buy in professionals but with a desire to give the centre a ‘spruce up’ it was down to donations of paint supplies and volunteer elbow grease. A series of ‘improvement’ days were put in place and a plea was put out to anyone who could support the project with paint, painting supplies and helping hands. The response was phenomenal! 

Local companies IVoltz Ltd, Bagnalls and Centurion Europe came to the rescue and donated all the supplies and paint required to freshen up the main room and give it a new lease of life. Added to this incredibly generous donation, Dobson & Hodge employees took time away from the office as part of their ‘100 acts of kindness’ to come to the centre over a number of days and put the paint brushes and rollers into action. 

With a number of additional volunteers from our board and band members, the mammoth task of re-decorating the main room was finally completed and we were able to showcase the new look at our recent open evening.

We couldn’t have achieved the vision for our ‘Centre Spruce Up’ without the generosity and support of local companies and volunteers. To everyone involved in any way, we would like to say a HUGE thank you! 

Whilst we know we still have a number of other areas in need of the same TLC, it’s a slow process and logistics of maintaining rehearsal and music lessons with minimal disruption mean it can’t happen overnight. We are, however, determined that our centre will get the treatment it deserves and we continue to find ways of improving the centre so it can provide a home for our young people and the next generation of DYJA musicians.