The Muffin Club come to the rescue!

A dining club started by businessmen 70 years ago has evolved into a charitable movement which helps community projects in Hastings and St Leonards. Lynda Foy sings the praises of the Muffin Men. Photographs by Colin Foy.

The Muffin Club began life at the former Creamery Shop in Robertson Street, Hastings, and its latest donation of £700 has gone to the Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group. The money, presented by the club’s armourer David Gillies earlier this week, will be used to buy a large wooden storage shed for the greenhouse off St Helens Road.

The Alexandra Park Greenhouse Group chairman Linda Pearson and secretary Charlotte Ramage received the cheque for the 1930s greenhouse which is currently being restored. Work by joinery expert Jason Wright to install new toughened glass in the roof and side panels is progressing, with the teak frame being cleaned and oiled.

Linda Pearson thanked Mr Gillies for the cheque, saying: “We are absolutely thrilled. The new shed will be so useful because the old one is so small and it’s falling to pieces.”

The Muffin Club, which has more than 30 members, previously presented the greenhouse group with two cheques for £300 each. One amount paid for a yew hedge and the other was used to buy decking for plants.

Mr Gillies, a retired solicitor who lives in Hastings, said the club began in 1952 and now meets once a month at the Brickwall Hotel in Sedlescombe.

He added: “We have our rituals. We have a bell that we pass around and we each make donations. We formed ourselves into a charitable club that supports local projects and enterprises.”

The club took its name after Lord Asquith complained in the media that muffin men were gradually disappearing from London. Club members contacted him, saying that muffins were available in Hastings. Many members are retired and the club currently has no female members, but Mr Gillies said it was looking to recruit younger business people to join its ranks. Anyone interested in joining should email Mr Gillies at dgillies@btinternet.com.

The greenhouse, which became a charity in 2018, aims to teach local people horticultural skills, with talks, lectures and events. The charity, which needs £10,000 a year to survive, makes its money by nurturing and then selling plants which are donated by the public. You can find out more on the Alexandra Park Greenhouse website. The group is bidding for cash from Tesco’s Community Grants initiative which is run in conjunction with the community charity Groundwork. Grants of up to £1,500, £1,000 or £500 will be awarded to local community projects. Shoppers can cast their votes at local Tesco stores from the start of October until the end of December by using a token given to them at the check-out in the shops. Follow this link to find out more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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