December 29, 2007 20:58

Morrissey makes donation to Salford Lads Club appeal

Star comes to aid of building he made famous

Photo Gallery: Morrissey

Morrissey has donated £20,000 to Salford Lads Club, the venue with which he will forever be linked.

His band The Smiths immortalised the venue when they posed outside it for the inner sleeve of their album 'The Queen Is Dead' in 1986, and fans have made pilgrimages there ever since.

But now the club's owners are trying to raise £1million for essential maintenance to the listed building, according to the BBC.

Morrissey had reportedly originally intended to make a secret donation, but relented after it was pointed out that a public gesture would boost the campaign's profile.

Salford Lads Club was opened in 1904 by Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout movement as a boys-only venue and enjoyed a membership of 2000. There are now around 200 members, of both sexes.

English Heritage have recognised it as the "most complete example of this rare form of social provision to survive in England." The appeal - currently at the £330,000 mark - is raising funs to carry out work on the ceiling and put insulation on the roof.