Letter: Draconian Rules Caused Social Club’s Demise

Published on: 21 Nov, 2021
Updated on: 21 Nov, 2021

King George V Halls, Effingham

From: Des Tanner

In response to: Parish Council’s Emergency Meeting Over Effingham’s Recreational Trust Resignations

During my tenure as chairman of the Effingham Playing Fields Association (EPFA) /Village Room, the EVRT [Effingham Village Recreational Trust] alienated itself from us and made it quite clear we were not wanted there.

In 2013 we were told we would lose our right as a tenant and be given a licence to be renewed every six years with no security of tenure.

EVRT tried to evict us on numerous occasions meaning we had to spend thousands of pounds just to stay as a village social club. We won our day but they then invented draconian rules like not opening on Monday and one other evening, be out of the building by 11.30pm and opening up later at weekends.

We used to offer our club free to villagers for wakes after funerals but had to hire our own club back per hour and couldn’t serve alcohol nor use our patio area during these occasions which put an instant stop to these events we offered free.

With these stifling rules our membership dropped but we still managed to keep going with prudent running.

The nail in the coffin came when, during our closure because of the pandemic, we were told we still had to pay our rent etc. This made the club unviable and so it closed. All the club assets were taken in lieu of unpaid rent. The club room has laid empty ever since, what a waste. Certain members of EVRT past and present got their way in the end.