A BENEFACTOR has offered to give £50,000 to a rural Dales charity, to help pay for the building of a pavilion on Hawes Community Fields.

John Walker MBE, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, who grew up in Hawes and regularly visits his hometown, is making the donation in honour of his late father, Johnny Walker, who ran Hawes Chippie in the 1950s.

The proposal to build a sports and recreation pavilion on Hawes Community Fields, along with associated outdoor facilities, emerged at an Upper Wensleydale Sports and Recreation Association (UWSRA) public meeting held in July.

If the project goes ahead, the pavilion will be named in memory of Johnny Walker.

Mr Walker said: "'Father John', as my late wife Unni used to call him, adopted me when I was two years old. If it hadn't been for my grandparents and him I could well have finished up in Australia along with thousands of other war babies. Father John was a firm but fair disciplinarian, then again he needed to be as I was a bit of a tearaway as a kid.

"Father John, like myself, did not have any particular claim to fame. But he did score more than a 100 goals for Hawes United in a season in the 1950s. I can't think of a better way to thank him, and at the same time give back something to a place that holds many happy memories, than to make this donation."

Hawes Community Fields are used by a variety of groups and organisations, including stalwarts of the Wensleydale League, Hawes United FC; the relatively newly reformed Hawes United Juniors FC, which has 57 children on its books; the Gala; Midsummer Bash; Bonfire Night; Cubs; Bike Club; Hawes Youth Club and Hawes Primary School.

However, facilities at the fields – which were bought after a huge community fundraising effort in the mid-1990s, and a significant Lottery grant, and placed for safekeeping in perpetuity in the ownership of the UWSRA charity – are currently minimal, with a barn with no electricity or water serving all the different groups.

Following the public meeting in the summer, UWSRA set up a working committee to fully develop ideas for improving facilities at the fields.

The committee circulated a four-page leaflet, resulting in 21 local groups representing hundreds of residents responding with their ideas, as well as a further 27 individuals.

Local councillor John Blackie, who is one of the three trustees of the UWSRA charity, said: "What a wonderfully public-spirited donation to be offered by John Walker, whom I know well, as I did Father John, who was a great stalwart for Hawes and a dedicated supporter of the local community here."

He added: "On the back of John’s generosity the Hawes Community Fields can look forward to their next phase of development."