The Luncheon Club:
Harry Russell writes...
The Luncheon Clubs were started on Tuesdays and Fridays in the old Church Hall over 30 years ago. The customers had to be referred by Social Services when the club was first started but later on the church ran it itself.
The criteria for membership was and still is that you have to be a Senior Citizen (OAP) and living on your own. The Borough Council still gives a small grant to cover part of the gas and electric bills and we try to do a varied meal each week: soup, meat, potatoes and two vegetables, a dessert and a cup of tea.
All the staff are willing volunteers, both women
and men, many of them Bold Street people. We have between forty and forty- five customers on a Tuesday and fifty to fifty-five on Fridays.
There is no doubt that the Luncheon Club means a lot to those who come. One lady writes, "It is so nice to eat with someone else and not having to prepare it."
The "Drop In" or "Bold Street Tea and Toast' Wendy Luker writes...
In response to our growing awareness of the homeless situation in Warrington, the Church Council granted us permission to start a "Drop In" facility in 1994. We are open for 2 or 3 hours on two evenings a week,
52 weeks of the year. We serve tea, coffee, and toast, free of charge for up to 20 people, who are homeless or vulnerable and lonely. Most of our visitors have drug, alcohol and/or mental health problems. The volunteers are recruited from around the town, including a few from Bold Street. The project is supported by donations from our church, Warrington Action for Homeless, the Y.M.C.A, and interested people.
The only entertainment available is a rather old television set, but the visitors enjoy the food and the friendly atmosphere. Sometimes we are able to find accommodation for people, or provide them with blankets, socks, toiletries etc.
The Friendship Club
Harry Russell writes...
The Friendship Club has been in existence since the time of the Second World War. It was during this time that a group of people met together to cater for the armed forces in the old Sunday School which was situated where the Council Offices are today. The organisers did not just want to provide a place where food was served but also wanted a place where people could gather and find fellowship to help ease the pain of what was a difficult time.
When the war ended in 1945, it was decided that this weekly gathering of people must continue and with this in mind the Social Club was formed. It had a very simple structure which has remained in place to this day. There was a Host and Hostess, Treasurer and a Secretary and was primarily a non devotional meeting. I joined the club in 1966 and became host with my wife, Iris in the spring of 1980 following the tragic death of our predecessors Albert and Elsie Lees. When we took over there a membership of between 15 and 20 people who were mostly from Bold Street. We wanted to encourage non-Bold Street members to attend and therefore the meetings were declared open to all denominations. To reflect this change the club was renamed the Friendship Club and we now have a membership of around 50 from different backgrounds and age groups.
The format of our meetings has always remained the same throughout the last 55 years or so. We usually meet on a weekly basis in summer months and hold monthly meetings in the winter. Our meetings remain non-devotional and the speakers come from a variety of backgrounds. They cover a diverse range of topics including slide shows, individual life stories and holiday experiences. We have an annual Christmas party in January at which we endeavour to celebrate any members who have had an 80th or 90th birthday. We also have an annual summer outing to different parts of the country. The emphasis in the club is on friendship and companionship and we mix this with a degree of entertainment. "We aim to welcome any visitors with open arms in the same traditions as our predecessors did. Perhaps you might want to try out our meetings and experience it for yourself."
Service takes many forms and over the years some of our members have responded to the call to preach, both in the ordained Ministry and as Local Preachers. Many of our members serve by visiting the sick and elderly or by taking an active part in charity and community work of many different kinds. As a church we especially support Methodist Charities such as NCH (formerly the National Children’s Home), Methodist Homes and Methodist Relief and Development and also Christian Aid and many others. We encourage our young people to think of others by collecting for JMA (Junior Mission for All) and making up boxes for Romania and whenever there is an emergency appeal following some natural disaster, Bold Street folk are always ready to respond.
