THE minister for sports and culture paid a visit to Dursley – dropping into both the local rugby club and Gazette offices to show his support.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Sajid Javid visited Dursley on Friday, February 27.

The visit gave Dursley Rugby Club the opportunity to showcase their plans for a new building for a changing room area which will be a huge benefit to their players from a range of age-groups.

Mr Javid’s first stop was at the rugby club, where he was given a tour by members of the board along with his Conservative party colleague Stroud MP Neil Carmichael.

Impressed with the ambition of the club, Mr Javid was keen to hear about their plans for the future.

He said: “It’s a very impressive club that really engages with the local community – especially children of any age group.

“The fact that they have hundreds of volunteers giving their energy to raise funds is a great example to others.

“There’s lots of ambition, and their goal of getting enough funding a new changing facility is not an easy task – but they’re so positive and have already achieved a number of their targets.

“Sport is hugely important for us in terms of health and keeping active as well as building communities.”

Mr Carmichael, who is no stranger to the club, talked about the plans for the new changing rooms.

“I come to the club quite a lot and actually helped with planting the trees around the border of the pitch.

“I hope the new changing rooms come soon – they will be much better for players and great for the children.”

After the rugby club it was onto the Gazette offices in Long Street with prospective conservative MP for Thornbury and Yate Luke Hall where Mr Javid was given a tour by assistant editor Jeff Bolitho and introduced to reporting and advertising staff.

Mr Javid was particularly interested in the Thornbury edition of the paper as his father used to own a shop in the town.

He also showed great enthusiasm when taken into the archive room, where he began leafing through old copies of the Gazette in an attempt to find a report on his A Level results.

He spoke to reporters during his visit, and pledged to do what he can to support regional newspapers like the Gazette, telling staff he was in the market for ideas and would be happy to hear their thoughts and suggestions.