Campaigners battling to save a much-loved community club in Manchester have declared victory after successfully removing the threat of eviction.
The Carlton Club, in Whalley Range, is in a sprawling white building and is regarded as an important cultural asset for that part of the city. It is a community hub which is seen as much more than a place to meet friends and neighbours for a drink and a catch-up. Depending on when you go, it might have live music, arts events, yoga, gardening, fitness sessions, a book club, quizzes, backgammon, philosophy group meetings and more.
The club opened in 1913, originally as a private gentlemen’s club. In recent years, a community interest company (CIC) has run a startlingly busy and popular social calendar.
Supporters say the CIC has transformed the club which, a decade ago, had 70 or 80 members, hardly any of them young. Today it has more than 1,000 members, spanning generations.
The problem has been that the CIC does not own the building, which is called Rowan Lodge. The owner is the Carlton Social and Bowling Club Building Company Ltd, which was set up when the club opened in 1913. Its stated purpose is to provide a building for the club.
Both the Carlton Social and Bowling Club CIC (the operators) and the Carlton Social and Bowling Club Building Company (the building owners) are run by local people. Earlier this year, the building company served an eviction notice on the CIC, saying it intended to run a new business from the premises.
That prompted a vocal and well-supported Save Our Club campaign, which included the raising of £38,000.
Justin Anderson, the acting chair of the CIC, said the club was an irreplaceable community asset and they could not allow it to be destroyed.
Three months on from launching the campaign, Anderson said they had succeeded in bringing about a boardroom shake-up of the building company, which meant the eviction notice had been stopped.
“It’s happened quickly and it’s a lot to take in,” he said. “Everything we have done is lawful and in accordance with the building company’s own articles. We have written to Companies House to inform them of our actions, which we believe are the start to righting historic wrongs and will ultimately put the club’s ownership back where it should be – in the hands of the members.”
Anderson said it was “a really exciting moment … and we can look forward to the future with confidence”.
The campaign had been supported by Sacha Lord, the night-time economy adviser to the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Lord said the club was one of the most “perfect examples” of how to serve the community. “It has a diverse offering that stems past being just a pub, just a club,” he said. “It is the beating heart of Whalley Range.”
