More Than Football

Drew Creek has lived in Newquay since 2010. He's raised three children here and now, as Mayor, spends most of his time out in the community meeting people and finding out what's going on.

Last month he officially opened the club's refurbished changing rooms. But when we sat down with him afterwards, he wanted to talk about something bigger than the new facilities.

"Certainly over the last 18 months, couple of years, I'd really noticed the club becoming a really unifying force in our town," he said. "What it's done is it's really made Newquay Football Club a more important part of the community and a place where people want to gather together and enjoy that kind of community spirit."

Creek sees a lot of community groups in his mayoral role. He's noticed something about who's been turning up at Mount Wise lately.

"I've certainly met people that aren't particularly football fanatics, but come and enjoy the sense of community around sport. It's nice that we've got that here in Newquay. You haven't got to travel far and wide to go and source that. We've got that here on our doorstep."

The changing room project was a £70,000 refurbishment of facilities first built by club members in the 1980s. It sits alongside the renovated clubhouse bar and ongoing ground improvements through the WAX Events partnership. For Creek, these physical changes matter because of what they enable.

"Whether you're a big football fan or whether you're just on the peripheries and just want to get involved, it's a nice thing to have. It's nice to have a team to unify around."

Asked what makes Newquay's community spirit distinctive, he pointed to something the town's residents share regardless of how long they've been here.

"Everyone that lives here, whether they've grown up here, whether they've chosen to live here, have chosen here because it's such a special place to live. And that creates that wonderful community here in Newquay."

Read the full story of the changing room refurbishment: Our New Changing Rooms