Comment

WEDDINGS, birthday parties and music nights are among the many special events which could have to be moved or cancelled if a long-standing community facility in Mal-vern closes down.

Seventeen events had al-ready been booked at the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) club, Pickersleigh Avenue, from May through to August this year.

They include six weddings, eight birthday parties (including 16th, 21st, 40th, 50th and 60th celebrations), a soul night, quiz night and crib presentation.

The club's parent company, CSSC Ltd, based in High Wycombe, announced at the beginning of March that the club would close on Wednes-day, April 30, due to financial difficulties.

The club's chairman Mal-colm Fish, who is fighting to save the club, said: "One or two people who booked are still hanging on hoping the situation might change.

"I am very pleased with the support we are getting and the people who have backed us up. We are just hoping to get a bit of luck."

Conservative parliamentary candidate for West Worc-estershire Harriet Baldwin has written to head of the Civil Service Sir Gus O'Donnell asking for the Malvern club to be given more time and pointing out that its trading position is improving and a new committee is in place.

"There is not much time. Once it is known that a place like this is likely to close down, people are going to book elsewhere. It is a body blow." She added: "The list of parties planned for the civil service club gives a real sense of the extent to which this sudden closure will adversely affect lives of hundreds of people."

West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer said he was also planning to write to Sir Gus. "There seems to be some confusion as to the exact financial position of the club. I shall ask if he can clarify what is going on. There seems to be several different stories going around about the club's financial state.

"If there is any way that this club can be properly supported and continue, it would be very important."

County councillors Clive Smith and Penelope Morgan, together with Liberal Dem-ocrat parliamentary candidate Richard Burt, have also joined the fight to save the club. They helped distribute 10,000 leaflets in Malvern asking residents to sign a petition over the proposed closure. Coun Smith said: "We want to keep it. It has been a community resource for a large number of years.

"It is not just what is going on inside the club - there are tennis courts and a football pitch. "

8:03am Wednesday 26th March 2008

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login