Melksham 60+ Club will celebrate its 70th anniversary in March with a special party at the Riverside Club and a anniversary cream tea at Lowden Garden Centre.
Steve Chudley, Chairman, Melksham Sixty Plus Club says,”The club was formed by the town council in Feb/ March 1949 with the first members’ meeting being held on Tuesday 22nd March which saw an attendance of 148 and entertainment supplied by local organisations.
“The first club Chairman was a Mr S Marchant and for the first 10 years the club prospered with increased membership and free rent of the assembly hall and free entertainment, with the membership hitting 228 at its peak.
“However somewhere during the 1960s and 1970s the club ceased to have entertainment and by 1983 were playing whist, skittle matches and bingo.
“Attendances were still around 100, but due to the Assembly Hall apparently making a loss in the eighties, free rent was withdrawn and by the year 2000, membership was dwindling and skittle matches and whist had gone, leaving just the bingo.
“In 2006 the club members voted to move to a smaller hall and took up residency on a Tuesday afternoon at their current home, the Riverside Club in Bath Road, Melksham.
“The club continues to meet every Tuesday at 2pm for a chat, cup of tea and bingo and has a current membership of around 50, with an average weekly attendance of 33.
“If you are over sixty and looking for some social activity, then you would be more than welcome to come along and give the club a try.”