Dawley Social Club needs to raise £5k to stay open

Dawley Social Club said it needs to raise £5,000 in order to keep the doors open

A social club has launched a bid to raise £5,000 in order to keep its doors open for the community.

Dawley Social Club has launched an online fundraising page, and said rising running costs mean it needs the money to solve "an immediate financial crisis"

People in the area said they would be lost without it.

Dave Phillips, steward of the club, said it has been struggling since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The venue hosts regular entertainment nights, as well as offering its space for local clubs and community groups, as well as hosting sessions like IT classes for older people.

Chrissy Houghton said she did not want the social club to go

On its fundraising page, the club said it had "negotiated a stable, managed regime to allow us to restore the club to financial order going forward" but this depended on raising the £5,000.

This money, Mr Philips said, would cover one week's operating costs for the club, to allow them a "breather" to recoup some of the money to fund its costs going forward.

"We were in a position before Covid where our finances, while not being great, we were quite stable, we had some money in the bank for a rainy day and that rainy day came in the shape of Covid," he said.

"It is a struggle for everybody, but the trouble is a lot of people stopped coming to pubs.

"The electric and gas, even the beer, everything has gone up."

£5,000 will cover the club's weekly operating costs

The club is receiving some support from Dawley Town Council.

Chrissy Houghton, 75, said she had been a member of the club for many years: "I go to Bingo on a Thursday night with a gang of friends.

"So if we hadn't got our bingo we would be lost, because there's a lot of elderly people...and they wouldn't know where to go."

Amanda Stanley said the club is a "lifeline" for some people in Dawley

Club member Amanda Stanley, from Amandas Ow Bist'Ro, said "It is a bit of a lifeline for some people, especially for Dawley folk, I mean there isn't much else around Dawley, half the pubs are gone.

"It is a good place to be."