Friendships are made, games are played at our long-standing Community Lunch Club

Every Wednesday at The West End Centre we have our community lunch club. The lunch club started way back in 2006 when St Oswald’s West End Centre hosted the lunch club for St Matthew’s church whilst they were having renovations done. Bernadette, Mona and Irene used the centre until the works were complete, once they returned to St Matthew’s, Christine, the Centre Manager took it over and has been running it ever since. We want to say a big thank you to the Ladies for starting the lunch club and it is amazing now to see how it has gone from strength to strength and how much it has grown over the years. Many people have been coming ever since.

We serve a two-course home cooked lunch, we offer a veggie option and two choices of dessert, with a cuppa for just £4. Our doors open at 10am and lunch is served around 12 noon. Many people come before lunch to sit have a cuppa and a natter or play card or board games. A lot of friendships are formed over lunch, phone numbers shared, and plans made for socialising outside the centre. There’s a real sense of community.

We spoke to people about what they thought of our lunch club, and this is some of what they told us

Terence has been attending lunch club for over ten years! “It’s not just about lunch it’s about good company and going somewhere I feel comfortable and welcome and knowing there is someone there who can help and support me if I need it”

Margaret has also been coming for over ten years! “I look forward to coming to the lunch club, prevents me from feeling isolated, there’s always a bank of information available, we all support each other here. There is no judgement. There is a good variety of good food, and the best part is no cooking or washing up!!”

Steve has been coming for a couple of months but returns every week “It’s an important part of my week, breaks my week up and I love coming here, makes me feel happier. Always feel very welcome”

Manjit has been coming for 5 months has lunch and stays for games after lunch “gets me out of the house, I can do different things here, I have made new friends and it’s a very welcoming place”

If you want to be part of our lunch club you can just turn up on a Wednesday morning, no need to book and you will be guaranteed a warm welcome. Want to know more about what we do at the centre you can just call in or give us a ring on 07592003595.