Happy 60th birthday to Novers Park Community and Social Club
By Club Secretary Ian Vowles
Novers Park Community Association Club was dreamed up by the local people of the area so that they had a community centre for everyone to go to and meet up.
The land was rented on a 25-year lease and the people of Novers Park Road all paid in and helped build the club where it stands today.
The doors opened for the first time to the community in 1962 and its doors have stayed open through thick and thin, the bad times and the good, which makes 2022 our 60th anniversary.
This is an achievement that should not go unmarked because it is the long-running legacy of all those that helped to make this club a reality and unfortunately a lot of them have now passed or moved away.
In 1974, the Social Club was added to the centre to make it The Novers Park Community and Social Club – and ever since then the club has held wedding, engagements, birthday parties, wakes and many other events through its time.
The club has survived and remained open through all the law changes and rules that have happened over the years, the biggest one being the Non-Smoking ban which did close a lot of places.
The testament and legacy of this club is the simple fact that without the support of the members – however great or small – this club might not have survived as well.
It did have its doors shut – but not through choice – as COVID hit in 2020 and changed everything again. For some of us in this business/trade it closed their doors for good – but it gave this club the chance to have a break, step back and re-think what we would like to do going forward.
During the lockdowns the building was given a facelift and a lot of renovations were done to bring it back to its former glory and to show what it can do.
The club would like to acknowledge the fact that this was all done by members in their own time and will be forever grateful to all those that helped.
Our doors re-opened on 17 May 2021 – with a complete new look and new feel to it, along with the anxious wait of seeing if what we had done would change the club’s fortune and outlook into the future.
Thankfully, the club is in great shape and looking prouder than it has done in years. Since the re-opening, memberships have gone up by the hundreds, the use of the building has increased and the best part is, the club has gone back to its roots and main purpose of being a family club where children are welcomed.
Over the last year the we have held live entertainment, Halloween, Christmas and Easter parties – and so many other parties that members and people have trusted us with.
Already 2022 has gone off with a bang for the club and there is loads more still to come and achieve, for example at the beginning of July we have the return of the bikers rally…
As Club Secretary I could not be more proud of how things have turned out and the way people are using the club now. I just hope everyone is having a great time and it brings back the old memories as well as creating new ones.
The easy way is to come and visit and experience it for yourself. Become a member and support the club, ask friends that maybe members and they will tell you.
The other option is visit our Facebook page and look through it all – because there are loads of pictures and comments about all the different events we have done and held.
Happy 60th Birthday to the Novers Park Community and Social Club – and may there be another 60 years to go with it.
