Friday coffees for friends since ‘91

Pat Singh (right) receives a thank-you gift from Mavis Peace, who both ran the Radford Road Church coffee mornings, on the group's last meeting.

The remaining members of the Radford Road Church coffee morning group are all firm friends and do not wish to end their weekly Friday gatherings - but dwindling numbers and the ageing membership have forced them to do so this autumn.

Having started out as an Age Concern (now Age UK) drop-in group at the charity’s shop in Clemens Street in 1991, the group broke links with the charity after the room used by the group each week was converted into an office in 1995.

They found a new home in All Saints’ church in Priory Terrace, but there was not enough space for the group, which at the time had more than 90 members. So, with the help of Cannon George Warner, they moved to Radford Road Church.

Mavis Peace, now 81, had joined the group when it started in 1991 and before long, she was running it and has continued to do so until the final meeting last week.

The pensioner, who takes the bus from her home in Heathcote to the church each Friday, said: “We were welcomed at Radford Road Church and have been very happy there for 18 years.

“Sadly, over the years, we started to lose members, who passed away or had to go into nursing homes.

“We are now down to less than 20 and are less able to cope, so we decided it was not wise to struggle through the winter.”

Mavis Peace meets the then mayor of Leamington, Cllr Sarah Boad, during a Radford Road church coffee morning some years ago.

Mrs Peace has organised monthly outings and weekends away, while the group has held regular tombolas and raffles and raised hundreds of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support and the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Families Association (SSAFA).

Mrs Peace said: “We are very good friends. The best pensioners are in Leamington.”

Fellow members Pat Singh and Lena Piazzon - also both in their 80s - have been managing the catering for the group for many years.

Mrs Singh said: “I have enjoyed the company. Nearly all of us live by ourselves and are in our 80s and 90s and we want some friends to chat to.”

The group has one last social outing to look forward to this month and they plan to continue to meet every other Friday at the Jug and Jester pub.

Mrs Peace said: “The group has been wonderful. We have lost such a lot of good ones. I always say that they are all up in heaven, sipping their cups of tea and asking each other, ‘who should we send for next?’”