For over a year, the GOLD Project has been running a weekly snooker club. It began with just a few people attending each week, but that soon changed as the club flourished with up to 14 people in a single week! Every Wednesday at 2pm, the group meet at the GOLD Office on Northdown Road and walk down to the Northdown Snooker Club. The venue has been very welcoming to the group, they have also kindly waived the membership fees. All the staff there are friendly and members of GOLD even know them on first name basis now.
Dedicated volunteer, Brian Searle, has been offering his time to the GOLD Project for 18 months and enjoys supporting the snooker club. He is retired and travels from Ash every week to make sure people have fun. He comments: ‘It’s great fun! I really enjoy coming each week. It’s a really nice group of people who are all friendly and welcoming and we have a really good time. In fact although I know I’m helping by volunteering, the members are good fun to be around, and I get as much out of it as I give, that is for certain.’
Members of the Snooker Club told us what it means to them:
Paul said: ‘It’s a great atmosphere and I get excited about coming to snooker each week!’
Scott said: ‘It gets me out and it’s something to do. I have made new friends and it helps me take my mind of things and lose stress.’
Chris said: ‘It makes me happy. I come to snooker and I have a good laugh.’
You don’t have to play snooker to join the club, some members enjoy coming along to watch. The club is there for people to get out of the house and make friends. If you are interested in joining the club then you can either turn up on the day or call GOLD on 0845 004 1876 for more details.
