Members of a social club in Earley have reflected on the value it has provided, and expressed sadness at its closure after 45 years of running.
The Our Lady of Peace Social Club was established in 1980 as a social members’ club attached to the Our Lady of Peace and Blessed Dominic Barberi Catholic Church in Wokingham Road, Earley.
The club was opened by Bishop Anthony Emery (1918-1988) of the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth.
Since then, members have enjoyed cheap drinks at the bar, special events and a host of weekly activities.
But after 45 years, the club closed last month due to increasing costs and declining membership.
One of the members, Philip Boardman, 78, from Earley said: “I’ve been chairman for 25 years myself, enjoyed every minute of it, and we are all very sad to be having to close the club.
“We had four or five big socials a year, Saint Patrick’s Day, Saint George’s Day, Burns Night, New Year’s Eve, and they’ve all been very nice.
“But as well as social events like that, we also had regular events, such as bingo, film nights, poker nights on a weekly basis and quiz nights.
“It’s been a blast!”
Members have formed a WhatsApp group as a way of keeping in touch.
Mr Boardman said: “What we’ve done to try and keep the social group together is set up a WhatsApp group of members who have signed up to it, not every member, but out of our membership, there’s about 60 or 70 names that we have.”
A last-ditch effort to save the club would have involved members paying £20 each month.
Although 57 members supported that proposal, they felt short of the 125 members needed to make it viable.
Mr Boardman said: “We have formed the WhatsApp group, so people will post on what they’re doing.
“This is splitting us up, if you like to use that word.
“But it is very sad. But what I find saddest of all is that this was we used to regard this as a social outreach from the Catholic Church out towards the the community and that will no longer exist, and it’s going to be particularly hard on some single people that we have as members here, for whom this might be a bit of a lifeline for them if you like.
“I don’t want to make that into a tearjerker, but it’s probably going to hit them fairly hard if we. can’t keep them together in a group.”
The assets of the club, including furniture, drinks, pictures and electronics, were sold at an auction on Saturday, June 28.
Colin H Tomlinson, the outgoing secretary, joined in 2016 and became a committee member after that.
He spoke about the deep relationships he has made during his membership.
Mr Tomlinson said: “I’ve made a lot of good friends. During one of the lockdowns, I caught COVID.
“A lot of people from here were ringing and making sure I was OK, people bringing stuff around and leaving on the doorstep, so that’s the level of friendships that I’ve made.
“It’s not just been someone I know their name, I’ve made some very good friends here.”
