AN Alvaston social club has scooped two national awards following a £30,000 refurbishment.
Paul Walton and Denise Oakley who run Nunsfield House, on Boulton Lane, have been named Steward of the Year for their work.
The couple scooped the prize for the third year running, a feat which Paul believes is unprecedented.
Mr Walton, 52, said: "I was very proud to win it for the first time in 2011.
"Then to win it the year after makes you realise that it wasn't a fluke. But to have it for a third year really makes you realise that you are doing something special."
The couple beat competition from thousands of other clubs to scoop the prize handed out by Club Mirror Magazine, the national publication for social clubs around the UK.
Mr Walton and his partner Ms Oakley, 46, have run the club since 2007. Before that they were stewards at the British Legion in Repton.
The club also took home the Refurbishment Club of the Year honour following a £30,000 refit.
Mr Walton said: "The club was looking tired and the committee gave me £10,000. But me being me, I spent £30,000.
"I said to them that if we spent ten then it would look good for a year but if we spent thirty thousand it would make the club somewhere that people really wanted to use.
"We refitted the function room first as it looked tired.
"Then we did everywhere else in the club and it has made a massive difference."
In a climate that has seen pubs and clubs hit hard by the recession and changes in drinking patterns, the refurbishment has made a massive difference to the club.
Mr Walton said: "People weren't using the facilities that we had here as much as they were.
"Now I am completely booked for 2014 and already taking bookings well into 2015."
And for Mr Walton, both awards are a vindication for all the hard work the couple and all those involved in Nunsfield House have put in.
He said: "To win the steward award is nice for us on a personal level.
"But to get the award for the club is fantastic because it shows just how hard everyone who helps keep the club going has worked."
These latest awards come on top of a number of CAMRA awards for the club's real ales and it is success that Mr Walton hopes to continue.
He said: "If we can win it 10 years in a row, then we will try to. There are a number of other awards that we are going to go for which will keep us going as well."
