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Memories of youth club to be rekindled at a reunion evening
The way we were: This photo of Trinity Youth Club was taken in 1977.
A Chorley woman is hoping to rekindle memories of a popular youth club from the 1970s by organising a reunion evening.
Wendy Salvin, of Stanley Place, went to Trinity Youth Club on Devonshire Road, which was organised by the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs (MAYC), in 1975-6.
She hopes that people who went to the club throughout the early and mid-1970s will attend the evening at Trinity Church Hall on Saturday, October 15.
Wendy said: “I went there when I was about 14 or 15. Most of us were about that age, although some were a bit older.
“We used to go on a Sunday night, and there was a music room and a kitchen area.
“We also had snooker, badminton and table tennis, though mainly we just used to chat and dance.
“We also went away for weekends to visit youth clubs from other Methodist churches. We used to do an annual trip to the Lakes, and I went on one trip to Prestatyn.”
Wendy, who now works at the New Progress Control Centre, drifted away from the church after she left the youth club.
She said: “It was more of a youth club for me personally. For others there was more of a religious meaning to it, but not for me.
“It was set up in the 1970s because there wasn’t a lot for young people to do. It was being recognised then as a problem, and most of the churches had youth clubs.
“Trinity’s was quite a big one because it was very popular at the time.”
Wendy has managed to keep in touch with some of her friends from the club, where a few life-long friendships were formed.
She said: “Several of the girls met their future husbands there. I’m friends with two sisters, Karen and Yvonne, and they both met their husbands there.”
Wendy and her friends are now casting their search wider to track down Trinity members who have drifted away over the years.
“So far I think we’ve had about 30 people showing an interest. We would like as many people as possible to come down who were there at the same time my friends and I were here, or who went a little before or after us.
“We’ve kept in touch with some but others have proved more difficult to contact.
“We think there could be about 60 people altogether who went in those years, but there could be more.”
The youth club was run by Wilf Lace and Arnold Welch, and Wendy hopes that Wilf will be able to attend the reunion.
If you went to Trinity Youth Club in the 1970s or know someone who did and would like more information, contact Caroline Bateson on 01257
480352 after 6pm or email caroline.bateson@tiscali.co.uk.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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