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Val King CHAIRPERSON OF THE MILL CLUB
What’s the Mill Club? The Mill Club used to be the clubhouse of the Royal British Legion Kingsbridge Branch. The Legion still runs the building and we lease it from them and run the bar and entertainments. We’ve got a large bar and lounge
area and a snooker room (‘the best in town!’). We run regular events and host meetings and private functions. We’re totally self-financing and raise our own funds. We don’t get any money from the RBL or their Poppy Appeal.
How do people access the club? Anyone can join the Kingsbridge RBL for £17.50 a year and then, for an extra £3.50, they can join the Mill Club. We also let in non-members if they’ve been signed in by a member. You don’t have to be part of a services or ex-services family to join the RBL or Mill Club these days.
How long have you been chairperson? This is my seventh year. When I took it on the club was having problems and on short three-monthly licences. Someone said it wouldn’t last another six months. But we put a lot of hard work into turning things around and it’s now got a healthy bank balance and a full, unlimited licence again. I was determined to make it work. It took a little bit of adjustment to opening hours and costs etc, and a lot of hard work from myself, the staff and the committee, but we’re in great health now. If we didn’t have such a great staff and committee I don’t think it would’ve worked.
What do you do as chairperson? All sorts really, everything from cooking the Sunday roasts to organising events. I’m the chief fundraiser of the club and organise fun days at Easter, summer and at the Kingsbridge Celebrates Christmas event.
Tell me about the Sunday dinners… Sunday dinners are a big fundraiser for the club and everyone loves them. I do most of the cooking and we have around four or five volunteers feeding around 50 to 60 people. We do all the roasts – beef, pork, chicken and lamb – followed by my homemade puddings, including Baileys cheesecake, trifle, salted caramel and homemade ice cream.
What else happens at the Mill Club? We rent the space to other organisations, including Slimming World and Probus, for their meetings. We also hold coffee mornings to raise money for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. And we have monthly entertainment, including live bands and horse racing nights. We provide free food at half-time during some screened rugby matches, and host lots of private functions including birthdays, anniversaries and wakes. We make the food for the
Remembrance Day commemoration. After the wreath laying service at the war memorial on the Embankment everyone comes back here. It’s always well attended at the club and you can’t get in the door some years.
How long have you been involved with the club? I’ve been a member of both the Royal British Legion and Mill Club for around 15 years.
What made you join? I came along with other members at first and then joined up for the social and entertainment side. I became a member of the committee quite soon after joining, and chairperson a few years after that.
How many are on the Mill Club committee? There are eight of us, including me, and we meet up on a monthly basis to sort out events and the general running of the club.
What do you do when you’re not at the Mill Club? I’m retired now but I used to make cakes for birthdays etc. I love cooking and still do lots of it now, both in and outside the club.
Favourite music? I like Neil Diamond and also the Stereophonics. I saw the Stereophonics in Plymouth last year.
Favourite film? PS I Love You. I love a good romance. I also love the Irish accents in it.
What are your favourite moments at the Mill Club? After the Sunday roasts we relax and have a drink in the bar and sometimes this can go on til 11pm! I’ve been told my Christmas parties
are ‘legendary’ – they’re really good fun. At the Christmas parties we provide lunch free of charge for those people who’ve helped throughout the year. There’s usually a good group of 40 to 50 people and it’s so much fun.
When’s the Mill Club open? Our general opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 4pm to 11pm; Friday and Saturday from 11am to 11pm; and Sunday midday to 10.30pm. We’re also open at other times for private functions and events.
Interviews by Kate Cotton
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