Lunch club celebrates 40 years of good food and companionship

A WOMAN who launched a monthly lunch club has helped to celebrate its 40th birthday.

About 30 people attended the celebration at Sonning Common village hall which included lunch, dessert, refreshments and a raffle draw.

The Sonning Common Lunch Club is held in the hall on the second Wednesday of every month, is run entirely by volunteers and costs £5 to attend.

Freda Buckner, 81, who organises the club, was part of the team that helped launch it in 1985. Her friend Christine Bussell, who has since passed away, came up with the idea and asked if she was available to help with the cooking.

Mrs Buckner said: “We were up at the former Chiltern Edge School back then because Christine’s husband used to be head of adult education and she was the secretary. She phoned me up and asked me if I could cook for the lunch club that she was going to start and she asked some of my friends.”

The club moved from the secondary school, now Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge, to the primary school in Grove Road and then to the village hall in 2009 where it remains.

Mrs Buckner said: “Where there were lots of things for youngsters to do in the village, there wasn’t anything for older people, so we thought of getting them together. For some, it’s probably the only time they get out.

“We went along and we cooked. It was frightening initially because we had never done anything like that as we’d all just done family cooking.” After five years, Mrs Bussell left the village with her husband who had started a job elsewhere and Mrs Buckner then took over its organisation.

The club gets anywhere up to 40 people attending each month, with the Fish Volunteer Centre bus service offering free transport to those in the village who need it.

A total of 15 volunteers, including seven cooks and eight helpers, work to put on the lunch every month. Mrs Buckner said: “It has been lovely but it’s quite sad, you see people coming and going. You think back and there are lots of lovely people who have sadly gone. I can’t believe it has been 40 years. It is just something that’s very worthwhile and it couldn’t be done without all of these ladies.”

Karen Tarrant, 53, who is Mrs Buckner’s daughter, has been a volunteer at the club since she was 19. She said: “I’ve been doing it for most of my life. I’ve only missed two, when I’ve not been well. It is lovely because obviously some of these people were my teachers, or some used to weigh me when I was a baby. A lot of them have passed away but it’s good for a lot of them to get out and meet people.

“It’s a village life thing. A lot of these people have lived in Sonning Common all of their life, so there are school teachers and doctors and dinner ladies. There are just so many people I know from when I was young, and they’re always very grateful. When they get together it’s quite funny, there is quite a lot of banter.”

Maureen Charton, 87, is the club’s longest-serving member and has been going to the lunch club for 23 years.

She said: “I first came because my neighbour went blind and she needed somebody to bring her, I was only in my early 60s and still at work then. I have never had a meal I’ve not liked. It’s a good social event and I’ve met a lot of people over the years.”

Many of the patrons, including Ann Richardson, 91, started attending the club when they were widowed. She said: “I wouldn’t miss it. I like the food, and I like the company all of the time, it gets you out of the house.”

To join the club, call Mrs Buckner on 0118972 2924.