WITH local government budgets squeezed tighter each year, social programmes which reach vulnerable and elderly people in our community are increasingly under threat.

But one community pub has founded a weekly event of its own to bring elderly people together for a hot meal and an afternoon of fun and conversation - and it is in the running for an Argus Community Stars Award.

Each Friday at The Bevy pub in Moulsecoomb, which is a community-owned cooperative business - volunteers bring together elderly people from the local estates who might otherwise not have the opportunity to enjoy the company of their peers.

The pub’s minibus - bought with lottery funding - goes out to collect those who could not get there under their own steam - and for £3.50, or as much as they can afford, the neighbourhood’s senior citizens enjoy a two course meal.

There then follows a raffle, games of bingo, and the opportunity to mix and mingle with a group who are fast becoming firm friends.

The Friday Friends group is now an independent non-profit organisation in its own right but it was created by Bevy regulars in late 2015 who wanted to fight isolation among elderly residents.

Iain Chambers, manager of The Bevy, explained: “Originally it was a small group of local residents - mainly seniors but not exclusively - and that built up over time from a community lunch and then a community activity. They have bingo, crafts events, whatever they want.

“It’s to address isolation. It’s partly to have some fun together but it is an effort to make sure people are okay and that they’re getting out and seeing people.

“So for instance we have a minibus and for those people who can’t get here, we pick them up either at their residential home or at their house, and we take them home again afterwards, and we help if they are in a wheelchair.”

He said that Friday Friends performs an additional role by checking whether its regulars are in good health or need any help.

“Some of them attend other things of course, but it means at least once a week they come in and have a nice time with people they see regularly and it gives the community a chance to keep in touch with people and check they’re doing okay

“So for instance if someone was missing one week, there’d be an informal social service.

“It’s the sort of thing which is becoming quite common as charities and communities step in to do these kinds of things. Someone would ring them up or go round and check they were okay.

“The good thing about the community owning a pub is you do what the community wants to do. And Friday Friends is essentially about people wanting to be together.”

The group regularly has 30 or 40 attendees and there was a huge turnout for their anniversary party and buffet last week, with another bumper crowd booked in for the Christmas Party which is happening this afternoon [FRIDAY].

The Bevy’s chairman, Warren Carter, nominated the now-independent group for one of The Argus’s prestigious Community Stars Awards, and following the judges’ meeting last month their hardworking volunteers are now on a shortlist of just three nominees for the Volunteer Of The Year Award.

The category is sponsored by UK Power Networks.

Warren explained: “It’s not just a club, people get rung up and looked after.

“Our big thing is as council services have disappeared it’s models like this that provide what is needed.

“Isolation is a major issue in society but councils can’t provide everything we’d want. So having this take place in The Bevy is a treat for the people who come, and it’s good for our business so it’s a win-win.

“The other thing is, it’s not in some dusty church hall, it’s a pub. It’s lively, the food’s fantastic and it’s a real laugh. The atmosphere is fantastic.

“The people that run it, they hate recognition but they’re absolute stars. If you could bottle the community spirit you see here on a Friday you’d be a very rich man, it’s amazing.”

Friday Friends are also broadening their social programme, with trips out to other pubs. And recently some members took part in a sponsored swim which raised the money needed for a trip over to Worthing for members to attend the Wednesday market.

Peter Hartley, 66, is one of the volunteers who drives the minibus on a Friday,

He said: “I start at about 10am to go out and pick up the first person and probably I drop the last one off at 5pm, so it’s quite a long day but it’s worth it.

“You look at the people’s faces and they smile and they’re happy and when you return them home the first thing they say is ‘so you’ll be back next week then.’

“Not to put too fine a point on it, one of these days I might be in the same position and I’m hoping there’ll be volunteers dedicated enough to do the same for me.”

He explained that for many of the participants it was clear the Friday Friends meal is the highlight of a week which otherwise risks being rather isolated.

He said: “They enjoy it because a lot of the people don’t get out a great deal for part of the week so they look forward to the Friday, they meet people, they enjoy themselves.

“They will say how much they’ve enjoyed today, and then they look forward to the next week. The thing is they get treated as individuals not just a collective, and they’re with people their own ages and younger and older and they interact.”

The group’s hard-working (and publicity shy) volunteers will find out if their worthwhile efforts have been awarded a Community Star Award at our ceremony at the Theatre Royal in Brighton on Sunday January 8.

Shortlisted nominees in 20 categories - ranging from Community Event of the Year to Grandparent of the Year, to the Business In The Community Award - will have their efforts recognised by veteran broadcaster Fred Dinenage and winners will be announced.