Castletown is celebrating a major upgrade to Morton Hall, thanks to funding and support from members of the Manx Cooperative Society shopping at Manx Co-op stores. 

Members of the Co-op have contributed 1p of every £1 that they have spent at the Co-op to local Manx causes, and £15,861.16 has been raised for the Castletown and District Over 60’s Club to refurbish Castletown’s Morton Hall. This money has funded a substantial overhaul of the building, including upgrading facilities such as windows and curtains to improve insulation and appearance. 

At a special event held to celebrate the completion of the Morton Hall upgrade, former Isle of Man Chief Minister, and Club President and Chairman Tony Brown OBE welcomed the funding. “Thanks to Co-op members across the island, we have been able to improve this important Club and community facility. This is already making a real improvement to our hall and events, benefiting our members and the local community,” said Brown.  

Manx Co-op Area Manager, Andy Corrie, said, “The Co-op is owned and supported by members, and this money has been entirely contributed by members supporting our local community. Supporting local causes like the Castletown and District Over 60’s Club is what we do.” 

Morton Hall has served the people of Castletown for more than fifty years, since it was opened on 27 July, 1970. Office bearers with the Castletown and District Over 60’s Club celebrated the upgrade with members and local community volunteers, and staff from the local Castletown Co-op food store. At the event to celebrate the upgrade, Tony Brown paid tribute to local Castletown resident Jim Young – one of the last surviving volunteer members of the team that constructed the building in 1970, and an active member of the Castletown and District Over 60’s Club today. 

The upgrade to Morton Hall was funded by the Co-op Local Causes Fund. 1p of every £1 spent by members shopping at the Co-op is contributed to local causes of the member’s choice. The Isle of Man benefits from some of the highest membership rates of the Co-op in these Isles, with Manx members currently supporting other causes such as Isle of Play, the Isle of Man Walking Football Association and ME Support Isle of Man. More information is available online at https://membership.coop.co.uk/  

Due to the incredibly generous support from Manx members of the Co-op, the amount of money raised significantly exceeded the Clubs expectations and the cost of the project to upgrade the building. Consequently, most of the excess funds received are being dedicated towards a forthcoming major replacement of the Morton Hall roof, a large project being planned for implementation and completion later this decade.  

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Photos of Morton Hall Upgrade Celebration by Michael Josem are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://michaeljosem.com/castletown-celebrates-morton-hall-upgrade/.

Michael Josem is a long-term consumer advocate, most prominently as a global leader in combating fraud in the online gambling industry. He was in part the inspiration for the 20th Century Fox Movie, Runner Runner, starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake.

Josem has over a decade of experience as a senior business leader working across various high-tech and online industries, and takes action to build a better community. His primary volunteer roles include service for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and Graih, the homelessness charity.