“I’m a romantic and I just loved it when people in their middle-late years found each other again”
The founder of a popular dining club for singletons in Greater Manchester has announced it will be coming to an end after an impressive 25 years of bringing people together.
The Lancashire Dining Club was set up by Bury councillor Yvonne Wright in February 2000 as a way for single people in the area to meet and socialise with one another through dance events and meals out.
Now regularly attended by more than 200 people each time a club event is held, it has become an important place for local residents in Lancashire – with many attendees making life-long friends or even going on to find love.
“It all started with just 14 of us in a little bistro in the middle of Bury,” Coun Wright, who represents Tottington and is the longest serving councillor in Bury Council, told the Manchester Evening News of the club’s origins.
“It just got bigger and bigger and we also ended up drawing in people from different counties. I’m a romantic and I just loved it when people in their middle-late years found each other again.”
Originally drawing in people from across Cheshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, the club has, in its most recent years, been tied down to Bury for the ease of attendees to get there and back from events.
Often held at venues like Bolholt Country Park Hotel, Ramsbottom Cricket Club and the Bury Masonic Hall, attendees could enjoy a three-course meal and entertainment from a DJ to have a dance along to – with tickets usually costing just £40 and with no membership required.
Speaking about the reasons for setting up the club, Coun Wright said: “I used to have a fashion boutique in Bury for 15 years called Irresistible, but I could see how times were changing and it was getting tougher and tougher for the retail industry.
“I had a single friend who was trying to find somewhere to meet people and she had passed the age of standing up at pubs. I think I read about some dinner clubs in London, but we found there wasn’t really one here besides one up in Chester and it was quite expensive, so I thought that it could be my next big project and I looked into how I could do it.”
But 25 years into the game, Coun Wright, who is actually married, said she has now decided it is time to end the singles club. “I have had an immense pleasure of setting up these dinners and bringing people together,” Coun Wright said.
“Over the years, we’ve had around 60 couples meet and get married, with dozens of others becoming romantically involved. There’s lots of others who have made friendships with people who they’ve then gone away on holidays and on cruises with too.
“I’ve made some really good friends out of it too. I’m a bit sad but there comes a time and I feel like this is the right time now for me to end the dinner club.”
Last Saturday (February 15), the Lancashire Dining Club held its last dinner party with a special event at The Stables Country Club. Coun Wright even went to the effort of theming each of the tables to tie into upcoming holidays or events that they will miss out on this year, like Easter and VE Day.
“The idea has always been about people coming just expecting a great night out with food and a chance to dance,” she explained. “If they want eye-to-eye contact over the cruet then that’s their business.
“But it’s always been about ensuring a good time. I always made very detailed seating plans to ensure people moved around at every course, so they all got to meet each other and have different conversations. I’m slightly theatrical so we always had different themes, like pink parties and Halloween nights.
“The last dinner we had was all about upcoming events where we wouldn’t be together – like Mother’s Day, and Christmas, so we went to a lot of trouble to make sure the night was memorable and was a really good send-off for everybody.”
Whilst Coun Wright has said she will be holding occasional reunion events for people to meet up with one another, the idea is that it is now the end of the Lancashire Dining Club. But those wanting something similar in the area need not worry.
“The good news is that a charity will be benefitting from the idea and are going to be taking it on as their own,” she explained. “AgeUK will be hosting their own Singles Dinner Club at their Jubilee Centre in Bury.
“They asked if they could carry it on and I was absolutely thrilled. They’ve got their own name and will do some different things but it’s really exciting. Many people are pleased they’ll still have somewhere like this to go to.”
With the end of the club, Coun Wright has promised she will be kept busy with other things – including a few new ideas in the works for her ward of Tottington.
“I’m very active in my ward and I’ve got many new projects going on,” she explained. “I am helping to organise events at St Johns Church, which will give the wider community more local events and social occasions, just as our neighbours in Greenmount and Ramsbottom are able to enjoy.
“So, I certainly won’t be sat at home knitting, you can be assured of that!”
