A new documentary has told the story of a landlord who's trying to keep a Leek working men's club open in the midst of an economic crisis.

The short, six minute documentary, entitled 'Del', sees the landlord of the Dog and Rot Leek Conservative Working Men's Club on Mill Street explain the pressures faced by the venue in the current climate.

Del discusses the struggles the pub and others like it are experiencing in the wake of the Covid pandemic and the ensuing economic downturn.

He also talks about the best bits of being a landlord and the value of pubs to local communities.

You also get to see Del in action, serving customers and running the pub.

Del says: "There were probably 12 of these clubs in Leek at one time, and this is the last one. Ironically we're a Conservative club, but its the Conservatives in power at the moment, doing things or letting things happen that could potentially shut us.

"For me the worst thing is having nobody in. If there's only two or three people in I get bored easily.

"We're a bit like a family really. You can tell by the expressions on people's faces, that sometimes you're there to be an agony aunt and put their arm round them if they need it, or just have a laugh with them.

"If anything happened here I'd miss it. You can meet hundreds of people a week on a good week.

"We didn't come into this to fail. We're a community. To see people struggling is heartbreaking, if they can't afford to come in anymore or are struggling with their bills."

He explained how local community clubs can help people mentally, saying: "We're not all singing and dancing all the time. I had a heart attack 18 months ago. Mentally that's the lowest I've been. Luckily I came through relatively unscathed. My friends, my partner and the club helped me through it. The impact that places like this can have on your mental health is really underrated. When people have places like this, they've got a safe place to come to.

"If people have that taken away from them, it will have a massive impact on their mental health and wellbeing."

And on rising energy bills, he added: "Our gas bill last year was about £2,500. We've had an estimate that it will go up to £21,000. That's just impossible because we can't generate that sort of money. If things don't go back to being reasonable then ultimately we will have to close. Something has to be done, and sooner rather than later."

You can watch the documentary for free on Vimeo here.

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