A WELL-LOVED social club which provides fun and friendship for retired men is looking for new members to help it stay open.

Attendance at the Trinity Pensioners Club has declined in recent years as some regulars have become too ill, old or even died.

But 86-year-old Arthur Almond, of Longton Close, Blackburn, claims the club could provide a new lease of life for any man over retirement age - especially widowers.

"I lost my wife almost ten years ago and the club has been a Godsend to me," he said. "It gets me out of the house and makes me feel part of something important."

Among attractions at the club is snooker at 5p per player, domino tables, a Christmas party, tea and biscuits and an annual trip to the seaside. Members simply pay a £1 annual subscription fee for the self-financing club in the Mount Pleasant Centre, Cleaver Street, Blackburn, which opens Monday to Friday between 1pm and 4.30pm

Mr Almond added: "We desperately need new members and hopefully some will be 'youngish.' We hope to recruit some men interested in running the club in the future."

Last year a meeting held by senior elderly team social worker Mrs Jo Harfield reported that the club "was a valuable social meeting place for men of retirement age."

She added: "Many of the members who have suffered bereavement, or are in caring roles in the community, feel the club provides much needed respite for them."

Anyone interested in joining should phone 01254 674321 or 01254 201721, Monday to Thursday, after 5pm.

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