A CREDITON Club for the lonely and elderly of the town has disbanded.

Crediton and District Fellowship has been unable to find enough officers to replace those who have stepped down.

Mo Turner, outgoing chairman and treasurer, explained: “It is with great regret that I am closing the club.

“I have been associated with the club for 13 years, 12 years as treasurer and eight years as both chairman and treasurer.

“I took over from Miss Hazel Boyd, the then chairman and then from Mrs Rita Hill, then treasurer.

“When I took over there were 21 members, and until recently there were 40.

“As you can see by the increase in membership, it is a very needed club for the lonely and elderly of our town.”

Mo added that in the early years the club had been affiliated to the Devon Elderly and Disabled Fellowship.

She added: “We joined because they had two parties a year, which was for the whole districts of Devon and held at the Langstone Cliff Hotel, Dawlish.

“The Fellowship became much smaller so it was decided that Crediton would go it alone, hence the Crediton and District Elderly and Disabled Fellowship was formed.

“When I took the chairmanship in 2012, lots of people contacted me to ask if you had to be disabled. I took it to the members and it was decided to re-name the club, Crediton and District Fellowship.

“From then on it grew to more than 40 members and became very popular.

“She said the club’s aim was to meet one day a month in the afternoon at the Boniface Centre for social and active get-togethers, with, of course, tea and biscuits.

“There would be talks, arts and crafts, outings, lunches and, of course, cream teas.

“All these events became very popular with the members.

“My one regret is that we have not been able to pass the chairmanship and the running of the club on.

“I am putting a plea out to anyone who would be interested in taking the club forward when the fears of Covid-19 have come to an end.

“I should be happy to pass all the relevant information concerning the club to anyone interested and can be contacted on 01363 776056.”

Mo added that as part of the disbanding of the club, donations from the club funds have included £1,000 to Age Concern Crediton and £520 to Crediton Foodbank.