Today I visited a club for retired people in and around the Whittington area which was originally formed before I was born.

Back in 1964 the good people of Whittington decided that a rota of visits should be established to make sure the elderly and vulnerable in the village were well looked after. And from those early good deeds grew the Over 60′s Club which brought people together socially and now all those years later to the revamped Wednesday Club I was delighted to open this afternoon.

It’s all about moving on and modernising said one of the current members… and they are certainly doing that. Like the vast majority of community clubs they’ve had their ups and downs over the past four and a bit decades but today’s relaunch sees a boost in the number of members and a new more diverse programme of events from traditional Bingo to trips across the UK… the next one being Llandudno.

I suspect most of the 53 Wednesday Club members were at Whittington Village Hall for the event today, up from 23 only a year ago. The new club has also scrapped the need to be 60 plus to join and, from what I saw, whoever said ’60 is the new 50′ is spot on. Anyone who is retired and lives ‘fairly’ close to Whittington can now join the group which, incidentally, saw a couple of its slightly more senior members cut the celebration cake… Eileen and Albert Bannister are fabulous at just 93 years.

Well done to Christine Jones and the committee for a terrific event and what is certain to be a busy and successful next 40 years.

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