GROUP CELEBRATES ITS FIRST ANNIVERSARY (June 2011)

Members of a luncheon group for older people have celebrated their first year at a new centre after the closure of their old one.

The lunch club opened last year at Serve`s Ron Manning Centre in Higham Ferrers after a funding shortfall meant the closure of the club`s usual venue, The Valentine Centre in Raunds.

At the time of the closure, members of the club were dismayed but, a year on, it`s all smiles. Jilly Carter, Centre Manager, said: “ We came to the Ron Manning Centre last year and when we opened up the new club, the majority of our clients from the Valentine Centre came over to use this centre. It was worrying when we first moved and we were worried about whether we`d get the numbers coming along, but we`ve got some new members along with our long standing clients – some of them have been coming to us for 20 years”

“The clients were devastated when the other centre closed, but it has been a wonderful year since we moved to the Ron Manning Centre”

“I would also like to pay tribute to our wonderful volunteers and we`re always looking for more good volunteers to help out because we couldn`t manage without them”.

Kathleen Winfield (78) of Little Addington, said “We have had a fun first year and we always enjoy coming to the group. I was upset when we left Raunds but that was natural because we were used to it”. The club provides a social environment for its members and it is open every day from 10am to 2pm.