🌟 Group Merit Award – Celebrating Our First Winners: McCabe Day Centre Lunch Clubs 🌟

We are delighted to announce that the very first recipients of this new award were the McCabe Day Centre Lunch Clubs – a truly deserving group whose commitment to supporting local residents is second to none: to find out more about this wonderful group please read the short article below:

McCabe Day Centre

The history of the Lunch Clubs

In the 1980’s Maidstone Borough Council built the houses and hall at McCabe Close and Kirkman Court. An independent charity (the McCabe Day Centre) was set up within the village to support older people, and to link the new houses’ tenants with the residents of the village. Over the years, the ownership of the site has moved from The Borough Council, to the Maidstone Housing Trust, and it is now Golding Homes. The nature of the charity has not changed, however, and we are continuing to function on behalf of both the tenants and the residents of the village.

Our current regular activity is to provide cooked lunches for our members every Thursday, and a roast Sunday lunch once a month (except August). We are able to offer transport for Thursdays, but sadly, not for Sundays. Provision of the lunches, and transport, is well supported by a keen team of volunteers, and generally while we work hard, we enjoy ourselves as much as the members.

In the last year, we have developed a new regular session. We have set up an old-fashioned tea party on a day in August to allow members to catch up with their friends when the club is closed. This was so successful in 2025, that it is firmly in place for future years.

We also have several regular annual events to offer our members. In July we take a coach-load of members and volunteers down to Eastbourne. This is thankfully, not weather-dependent, as there is plenty to do, even if it rains. But of course it if much nicer when the sun shines! The other major event of the year is our annual Christmas party when, as well as providing a full Christmas lunch with all the trimmings, we try to cram in as much sparkle and fun as possible.

As a social club, we take any excuse to have a bit of a party – for example, we generally mark Valentine’s Day and Easter with chocolate and flowers. And in recent years we had parties to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and subsequently the King’s Coronation.

Like everything else, we had to close down for the period of Covid, and that was a difficult time for us all. Our volunteers shared the list of members, each taking a few, so that they could keep in touch with those individuals by regular telephone calls. We also prepared and delivered a Christmas hamper to every member, for which many businesses in the village and beyond gave us discounts; and the Community Events Group paid the main costs. We were so grateful for the generosity.

We are always happy to welcome new members to the club, and there is always room for new volunteers on the rota. It is not only a worthwhile thing to do – it is also enjoyable.

Caroline Highwood (contact chighwood5@gmail.com)

Chair, McCabe Day Centre