Information

CLUB OPENING TIMES

CHRISTMAS OPENING TIMES:

Christmas Eve: Noon until 11pm

Christmas Day: Noon until 2:30pm

Boxing Day: Noon Until 11pm

New Years Eve day: Noon until 5pm. (bar closes 4:30)

Evening, members and immediate family only; 7pm until 1am

Details of the evening are on the ‘Events’ page

Normal opening hours:

Monday 14:00 to 23:00

Tuesday 14:00 to 23:00

Wednesday 14:00 to 23:00

Thursday 12:00 to 23:00

Friday 12:00 to 00:00

(23:30 on nights when no band is playing)

Saturday 11:30 to 00:00

Sunday 12:00 to 23:00

FOOD

Wednesday 14:00 to 18.30

Thursday 12:00 to 18.30

Friday 12:00 to 1830

Saturday 12:00 to 18:30

Served from our 5* for hygiene rated kitchen. Kitchen availability is liable to change at short notice.

Please see our Facebook page for information on any kitchen time changes

SMOKING AND VAPING AREAS

Smoking and vaping are only allowed in the patio area, not inside the Club.

Please do not smoke near doorways and always dispose of cigarette ends responsibly.

A brief rundown of annual events – just in case you wish to know

JANUARY – 1st to 28th Membership renewal. Dinner with entertainment for Pensioners with at least five years membership and for life members

MAY – AGM, (Annual General Meeting), normally held on the second Sunday in May. This is where the financial situation of the club is given and reports on what has happened over the last year plus any plans for the future. Nominations and elections for the Committee

DECEMBER – Childrens party, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve celebrations

It’s A No No

NO abuse, either physical or verbal can be tolerated at any time, including damage to the Club.

We are a member of SCUCA; anyone causing problems may be reported to all Stanford and Corringham clubs and could result in you being banned from all of them.

If you have a valid urgent complaint then please see a member of the Committee.

If you have a non urgent complaint then please email or write giving details and addressed to the Club Secretary

The Dance Floor

For everyone’s safety we have a strict rule:

No glass or liquids are allowed on to the dance floor

Should any spillage happen, if necessary, the entertainment will be suspended while the floor is cleaned

Children

We love them but we do have to make some rules for everyone’s comfort and safety.

ALL persons under 16 years:

Must be under the supervision of at least one responsible adult at all times.
Please see notices in the games area for restrictions on children playing pool or darts
DANCE FLOOR, Children may play, (safely), when the band is not playing, and may dance responsibly under supervision.
The Committee have the right ask children to leave the dance floor if deemed necessary.

Are You A Member?

To ensure that only genuine paid up members enjoy the benefits of the Club, membership cards must be carried at all times that you are in the Club and must be shown on request. Don’t forget that on band nights members and their full time partners are only allowed into the hall free if they can produce their membership card, otherwise the normal entrance fee will be charged for both persons. Door staff have instructions to enforce this rule. Please do not abuse them.

PUSHCHAIRS

Because of space and insurance limitations, pushchairs and prams are not allowed inside the Club, and must be left in the Lobby.

Also, only Assistance dogs are allowed on the premises

Although our defibrillator is fully automatic,

it is a good idea to have confidence if you ever need to use one.

For a two and a half minute video go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKR-2hifBp8

Coming to the club for a drink?

Why not make it a social occasion

and bring some friends with you.

Members may sign in up to two guests.

Entry is £1.50 per guest.

The member is responsible for guests that they sign in.

Don’t forget your membership card

Want to go into the Hall to enjoy the bands that we have?

Members with their membership cards may take a

long term partner in free.

Non members and members without their card

have to pay the £5 fee

Please note that the £5 does not include

entry into the Members Lounge

On Friday nights

In the Members lounge we have a meat raffle, quality meat from a local butcher.

We also have a Membership number draw with a cash prize. You have to be in the Club and present your membership card within three minutes of the draw.

A BRIEF HISTORY

In the 19th century, as is common today, many men had to travel away from home in order to find work. Working men’s lodgings were often just a place for them to sleep and these men were not allowed into their digs until late at night and they had to leave early the next morning. To give the workers somewhere to go during the day, the first Working Mans Club was opened in Redish, Stockport; other clubs followed, many giving some form of education to these men but originally were alcohol free. As time went by most of these clubs became recreational social clubs.

The original Welcome Club building opened as a cinema in 1913 but this was very short lived because it closed in 1918 leaving the building empty until the Welcome Club took over the premises in September 1919.

On 3nd January 1920, we became a member of the Club & Institute Union, the CIU, which allows members who hold a CIU card to enter other CIU affiliated clubs.

Unfortunately, in December 1977, the original building had a serious fire which occurred during the firemans strike and the Green Godess fire engine that attended could not cope. The Club premises had to be demolished and as soon as possible a temporary wooden building was put up in its place.

Affectionately known as the ‘hut’ or ‘shed’ this still has fond memories for some people because of its close friendly atmosphere where everybody knew everyone else.

When Hulls Motors the Vauxhall dealership on the corner of Victoria Road closed, the building was purchased by The Club, redesigned and partially reconstructed and the present club premises opened in May1985.

Since then we have enclosed an area of the pavement to make an outdoor seating area and this is the only area in which smoking and vaping are allowed

Entry to the Welcome Club

The Club reserves the right to refuse entry to any person at any time who may be considered to be intoxicated or in an aggressive state of mind

FAMILY BAR: As this is a members club, only members, their long term partners and signed in guests and CIU Associates are allowed into the Family Bar.

Non members who pay to enter the hall on music nights are not allowed into the Family Bar except to use the smoking/vaping area on the patio

Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/87311047412

Data Protection

General Data Protection Regulation

The Club will never give your personal data away to any unauthorised third parties. We are a WMCIU affiliated club and some data will need to be processed by them. You have the right to access all of your personal data, rectify anything that is inaccurate and object to it being processed in certain circumstances, or completely erased if you leave the Club.

Each request will be dealt with within one month of receipt free of charge.

How Do We Keep Our Prices So Low?

We are a members club and the yearly subs help us to plan ahead.

There are many volunteers, including the Committee, who run the club, run the raffles, help to keep the grounds clean and tend to the plants etc.

Help us to keep the prices low: support the Friday night raffle, and the Tote.

Please treat all Club property with respect and remember that food & drink purchased elsewhere are not allowed into the Club without express permission which is only granted under certain circumstances.

A brief run down on some rules and information:

ADMISSION OF MEMBERS
Any person wishing to join the club must be over 18 and proposed and seconded by two paid up members who can vouch for the nominees character and respectability. Details of fees will be given and after the initial fee is paid and the application form filled in, the applicants details will be displayed for a period of time in a prominent position to allow for any objections before the application is submitted to the Committee.
(For information on the application form, go to ABOUT – FORMS – MEMBERSHIP). https://www.welcome-club.co.uk/apply/membership/

SUBSCRIPTIONS
The annual subscriptions are due on 1st January and must be paid by 28th January. Any person who has not paid their membership fee by the 25th of February will be deemed to be in arrears and will not be allowed into the club until their subscription has been paid plus any fine. If you have problems that may cause a delay in payment, please contact the club as soon as possible.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Please notify the Secretary of a change of address/contact details within 14 days.

CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP
Members shall cease to be members:
(i) By non payment of subscription. Any outstanding arrears and/or fines must be paid before a new nomination for membership can be submitted. (see subscriptions above)
(ii) By expulsion( iii) By resignation (iiii) By death

MEMBERSHIP OF THE UNION
All members of the club are entitled to join the CIU, (club & institute union), and may enjoy all of the privileges associated with it. CIU members from other clubs may enter the club and purchase alcohol, although the club has the right to refuse admission or access to parts of the club if deemed necessary.

MEETINGS
The annual general meeting, (AGM), is held in May where a financial report and an annual report will be presented. Any members wishing to propose a motion must give notice in writing to the secretary giving at least five days notice.
Special meetings may be called by direction of the committee or by requisition of at least 30 members stating the purpose of the meeting.

ELECTION OF THE COMMITTEE
Following the AGM, paid up members may nominate persons for the committee positions with elections to follow. Should the committee fall below its maximum membership during the year, the committee may nominate a temporary committee member until the next elections.

Welcome Comments

Where possible, my replies are in the ‘Replies to your comments‘ section.

Have your say about your club at email address:

welcome-comments@outlook.com

Welcome Comments is for adults making a serious contribution for everyones benefit, it is nothing to do with the Welcome Club office and so:

Please do not use any other email address, DO NOT email the office, do not use the ‘contact us’ form that is on some pages of this website.

____________________________________________________________

Do you have any ideas that might be useful for the club and its members in the future?

Was there anything at any time in the recent or distant past that you particularly liked?

Was there anything in the recent or distant past that you thought was not right?

Do you just have any thoughts about the club that you would like to pass on?

How it works:

By email only. I, (Ron Bull), will copy whatever you write and paste it to a separate sheet of paper; your email will then be deleted. Any comments will be presented to the Committee at the next Committee meeting.

All comments will be kept anonymous. No one will know who commented, no matter what you write, so feel free to be honest. But please, we only want genuine comments, this is for serious remarks not for your amusement.

If you do not wish me to see your name on the email then feel free to use an email address that does not identify you.

You can get a free email from various providers, (outlook, gmail etc), but as so many log-in names have been taken already, I suggest that you use an unusual mix of letters and numbers that no one else is likely to have used. A distant family name with old house numbers for instance, using my Grandmother as an example, I would use: nan93ny53freda.

Enter your comments and send to: welcome-comments@outlook.com

NO: it is not a blog, it is not a conversation, I will not reply personally to you.

THE RULES – Well there are no rules really except that any abusive language will not be tolerated and an email with bad language will be deleted immediately without any concern for its content. Members, non members, staff, bands that play here; anyone who uses the club in any way may comment.

What I ask: I would appreciate it if you would state whether you are a member or not, not by name, just say ‘Member’ at the beginning of your email.

Try to keep it short and to the point while making the message clear.

Please do not use any other email address, DO NOT email the office. Do not use the ‘contact us’ form that is on some pages of this website

email address: welcome-comments@outlook.com

(Don’t forget the hyphen)

Replies to your comments

Thank you for taking part and giving us your views. all completely anonymous of course, your comments are made available to all members at Committee meetings. Please continue to take part, we need to know your thoughts. Below are what I believe to be the views of the Committee.

The meat raffle and Membership draw will continue to be drawn as it has been in the past. At the discretion of the Committee persons on duty at the time.

DANCE FLOOR: Any and all adults are always responsible for any children, (under 16’s) that they bring in to the Club, We do of course want everyone to enjoy themselves but in a safe and respectful way.

As far as the band nights are concerned, children may be allowed to play on the dance floor before the band starts and during the bands break providing they do so safely and with consideration to others.

While the band is playing, children should only be on the dance floor if they are dancing sensibly and under the supervision of an adult, should the dance floor be crowded or if children are causing a problem then any Committee member has the right to ask for the child(ren) to be seated.

PLEASE remember that for safety reasons we do not allow glasses/liquids on the dance floor. Spilt drinks make the dance floor slippery and broken glass has to be cleaned up to stop anybody from being hurt. If necessary, the band will be asked to stop playing and the lights will be turned up so that we can clean up properly. Carpeted areas yes, dance floor no!

VIDEOING: As far as I can tell, using your phone to take a video is legal, and is acceptable in the Club. However, this should only be for your personal use. Try to restrict your photo’s/video’s to the band or your group of friends if possible. ‘Did you have a good night?, why not tell your friends on your social media site, (Facebook etc.). If you did not enjoy yourself then please tell us why at: welcome-comments@outlook.com

TICKETED, (tribute or themed), nights are privately run and are not organised by the Club. These bands are normally more expensive to hire than our usual Friday/Saturday night groups and the price that everyone has to pay is good value compared to other venues and of course you normally get a DJ in with the price. The best way to keep the cost down is to have the hall as full as possible, and so the more people that attend the better. Tickets are available from the bar in advance and online from Skiddle for non members. Of course our normal band nights are free for members and their long term partners, but we do need your support to keep them going. (Something to think about, The Upbeat Beatles have good reviews and are £30 to see them at the Towngate Theatre in January 2025. We had The Cheatles who have better reviews and have played all over the World, plus a D.J. for £15, and of course, low cost drinks. No contest!)

NON-ALCOHOL drinks: The club has a wide range of drinks that do not contain alcohol including soft drinks, (cola cordial etc.), fruit juices and non alcohol beers and spirits. Please ask the bar staff for examples. If you have any suggestions of alcohol free drinks that we do not already supply, please email ‘welcome-comments’ and they will be passed on.

HALLOWEEN: We have always encouraged members to dress up for Halloween. This year (2024) we are giving cash prizes for the best Halloween costume; £50 each for best male and best female.

THE use of bad language has been criticised, especially for some groups of people. All we can ask is that if you do feel the need to swear, then please have respect for other people and keep bad language within your own group.

Sorry but there is no plan at present to open the hall on Christmas Eve

MEMBERSHIP applications will continue to be processed each March and September

Other suggestions from you are in discussion, so watch this space.

Do you have an opinion about this? You know what to do – email: