The “Darts on Your Doorstep” campaign has nothing to do with someone carelessly leaving a set of sharply pointed arrows lying carelessly outside the front door of your home.
Thankfully, the PDC’s grassroots initiative isn’t about booby-trapping your garden path with tungsten missiles, but rather about sprucing up community darts facilities and giving local players a proper place to chuck. Feet like teabags avoided.
The latest stop on this wholesome tour of Britain’s social clubs was Enderby & District Social Club in Leicestershire, where Damon Heta – the Aussie nicknamed “The Heat” – popped in to officially open their shiny new darts setup. He now joins Luke Humphries, Chris Dobey, and Jonny Clayton on the list of big names to cut ribbons, smile for photos, and pretend they’re not dreading the first awkward double attempt against a local ringer.
With the World Grand Prix just a week away down the road in Leicester, Heta did the honours with a Q&A and a few legs against brave volunteers:
“It’s great to represent the PDC and Darts on Your Doorstep. It’s a grassroots sport and it’s good to see the investment that’s being made by Smart Energy GB and the PDC. Clubs like this are where so many players begin playing darts and it makes me appreciate where I am and how far I’ve come. It’s outstanding to see and it’s a massive scheme – it will create opportunities for so many players.”
The project is backed by Smart Energy GB, who’ve cleverly combined darts with their mission of selling us on smart meters. Since November 2024, almost 50 clubs across the UK have been fitted with fresh Winmau Blade 6 dartboards, while over a thousand attendees have sat through sessions on energy efficiency. Because nothing says “grassroots darts” like learning your fridge isn’t secretly bankrupting you.
At Enderby, members also got the full Smart Energy spiel. Phillippa Brown, Deputy Director of Specialist Audiences at Smart Energy GB, explained:
“Local darts clubs play an important role in communities all over the country. Projects like this, that provide improved facilities and equipment, are vital to make sure they are able to thrive and harness community spirit for years to come. It’s also really important to use these opportunities to help the people in those communities manage the high cost of living. We hope the information sessions will give people real, actionable advice to help them manage their finances, and see how a smart meter could help them to save a little money on their energy bills.”
And of course, no PDC initiative is complete without Matt Porter, Chief Executive, delivering his standard seal of approval: “Darts on Your Doorstep has been a big success since being launched last November, and it’s great to see clubs around the UK benefitting from the scheme. It’s wonderful to continue working with Smart Energy GB to promote the use of smart meters across Britain, as well as transforming the darts facilities of grassroots venues. Venues such as the Enderby & District Social Club are the hub of their community, and darts plays a huge role for so many of the club’s members.”
There’s even a Smart Energy GB Darts Challenge running alongside the scheme, where top-performing clubs throughout the year win a “money-can’t-buy” prize – a custom dart-fitting experience from Winmau. Not cash. Not free beer. But a dart-fitting. It’s the kind of reward that makes dart nerds swoon.
All told, the Enderby launch was classic PDC community outreach: polished boards, smiling faces, and one very affable Aussie showing that even World Cup winners remember where they came from.
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Images: PDC
