Islip Working Men’s Club
Founded in 1933, Islip Working Men’s Club in Northamptonshire continues to thrive and recently celebrated its 90th birthday with an epic two-week programme of events
Founded in 1933, Islip Working Men’s Club in Northamptonshire celebrated its 90th anniversary in some style back in November, staging a number of events across a two-week period in order to mark an auspicious milestone for this community-centred venue.
“It was amazing for all the members to come together for the club’s 90th anniversary in November, celebrate a really significant milestone and take stock of just how much our little village club means to the local community,” says Club Secretary Jo Lewis.
“We spread it out over two weeks because we wanted to ensure that all the different sections of the club, for example the pool team, skittles teams and bingo players, could get involved.
"Something was going on every night during the celebrations so nobody was going to miss out if they didn’t come in on a specific night. “Throughout the period we ran a special promotion with all draught beers and house spirits doubles priced at £3 in order to give something back to the members and thank them for all their support.
“The actual birthday fell on a Monday night – skittles night – so we had loads of people in playing matches and enjoying a buffet.
“So we held the ‘main’ celebration a couple of days early on the Saturday night when we ran a charity Race Night in aid of the Royal British Legion.“It was a brilliant night and we raised a total of £818 for a great cause.
“Everyone who came into the club over a couple of weeks had the chance to take part in the celebrations and the response we got from our members was really fantastic.”
The club’s current position as a thriving community venue is certainly a far cry from the situation it found itself in back in 1992 when closure was a very real possibility. Step forward committed club men Rodney Markham, Tom Love and Terry Gunn who decided to take on the task of turning the club’s finances around.
Formulating a business plan with Union President Derek Dormer OBE and with the support of the CIU, the club took out a bank loan and then changed its brewery supplier which allowed the club to freeze its bar prices for an 18-month period as it aimed to move back to financial stability. The target was to get the club back on track financially in 10 years but this was done in just eight years – a fantastic turnaround.
Terry Gunn, whose grandfather Harry was one of the founding Committee Members in 1933, then made the decision to leave the building trade to become Club Steward and Games Secretary.
Terry continues to be a mightily influential figure at the club some three decades later.
“Terry’s dedication to the club over the years is impossible to overstate,” says Jo.
“With the help of the Committee and the continuing support of the members, he has been a key driver in the club’s current success.
“We currently have 320 members and they have all really got behind the club and supported what we’re trying to achieve.
“When we reopened after lockdown, everyone was so glad to be back and returned to the swing of club life really quickly with the result that we are doing really well, despite the current financial climate.
“We have members who live in other villages in our area, not just in Islip itself, who come into the club regularly because they love the friendly atmosphere and everything else we offer, including darts, pool, snooker, dominoes and table skittles.
“Skittles is really popular at the club and in 2023 we actually ‘absorbed’ an existing team, who were playing at another venue, into our club because they decided it was a much better environment than where they were before.
“It means we now have four teams at the club and they have been very successful, recently winning the Northants Eight-a-Side Skittles Knock Out competition and have won the CIU South East Midlands Skittles Knock Out a total of 14 times.
“Skittles are played on Monday and Thursday nights and it makes for very busy times at the bar with our teams competing in the local league against other clubs and pubs.
"On Wednesday nights, it’s the turn of pool; every other Thursday we have a Quiz Night run by our resident quizmaster Rodney and on Friday night it's ingo and Catch the Joker.
“On Saturdays we often have a private function in the Main Hall and the club is generally just very busy with members coming in to have a few drinks with their friends and family or to play bar sports.
“Private parties in the Main Hall are great for the club’s finances and we probably average at one a month along with afternoon events such as wakes and christenings.
“You have to be a member to hold a function here but obviously parties bring new people into the club who often like the atmosphere and subsequently become members.”
The club is proud of its family ethos and has made great progress in ensuring that the club has something to attract people of all ages.
“What is really encouraging is to see increasing numbers of younger people coming into the club and realising that this is a great place to socialise with their friends,” says Jo.
“We are also trying to encourage some younger people to get involved with the Committee which will hopefully give us a new perspective going forward.”
Whatever their age, members are certainly spoilt for choice when it comes to the club’s impressive selection of drinks at very reasonable prices.
The club’s bestselling drink is Carlsberg Pils, brewed just down the road in Northampton.
“We certainly sell a lot of Carlsberg lager and have a good relationship with our rep,” says Jo.
“Carlsberg sponsors the Northampton Saints rugby team and recently gave us a match jersey signed by the whole team for us to auction off for charity and also supported us during our 90th birthday celebrations so we’re very happy to have them as our supplier.”
The lager was certainly flowing during the final months of 2023 as following an epic November, the club launched straight into a hectic December with plenty of events for members to enjoy.
“We enjoyed a very busy festive period with one of the highlights being our annual Christmas Draw Night which saw over 150 prizes won by members¬,” says Jo.
“We start selling the tickets in September each year and then use the money to buy the prizes with everything costing over £5 so they are all decent prizes.
“It traditonally takes place on Christmas Eve but this year we held it on Saturday, December 23 and the club was absolutely packed.
“It’s always a really nice occasion with bingo and free mince pies alongside the draw and we had some great prizes on offer. “As well as Christmas, we run events around all the major holidays throughout the year including Easter when we do an Easter Egg raffle alongside a special bingo night and we also run club outings including a recent trip to Huntingdon Racecourse.”
Charity fundraising takes place at the club throughout the year and one of the good causes which the club supports is the Northamptonshire Caring and Sharing Trust which offers respite and activities for adults with learning disabilities.
“During the last 31 years the club has raised £62,000 for charity, and this has all been organised by Terry,” says Jo.
“The Islip District Summer Skittles League has raised £24,528.60 in aid of the Caring and Sharing Trust and we presented them with the latest donation of £846 in December.”
So, with the New Year now upon us, Islip Working Men’s Club is looking to continue its success throughout 2024 and beyond.
“We’re absolutely delighted with how things are going and that the club remains such an important part of village life,” says Jo.
“All our members are very proud of the club and it’s great that all the hard work by the staff and Committee is given such tremendous support by our members.”
