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History Page
The Croydon 60+ Benevolent Fund Ltd
"Promoting the welfare of older people living in the London Borough of Croydon"
The Croydon 60+ Club regenerates and transforms purpose for the benefit of the communty.
The Croydon 60+ Club is one of the boroughs oldest charities, and to adopt a quote from MarkTwain, “The report of our death is an exaggeration”.
The Club began life, almost 80 years ago as the Croydon Darby and Joan Club established in April 1945 at the initiative of the then Mayor of Croydon, George Lewin, and with the support of Sir Herbert Williams MP.
The club’s first President was Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was the second Darby and Joan Club in the country, the first being at Streatham.
The club was a social centre for the elderly, membership was free to all old age pensioners resident in Croydon, and it offered cheap meals and teas, hot baths, leisure facilities (a lounge, a billiard room, a sewing room, a library, a television room, etc), and events such as whist drives and outings.
The club was originally based in Haling Cottage, 76 Brighton Road (leased from the Whitgift
Foundation), which formally opened in July 1945. It subsequently moved to freehold premises at 'Parkhyrst', 58 Addiscombe Road, which opened in July 1948. The club was largely financed by voluntary contributions and through a range of fundraising activities.
Throughout the subsequent years the club continued to operate under the guidance of the ‘great and good’ of Croydon, in particular, in more recent times, its Chairman, Edward Handley.
For more than half a century the Handleys were one of the most famous families in Croydon with their name proudly displayed in white bricks on top of a 160ft chimney which towered over the town. Edward is the son of the owner of the brickworks.
Later adapting to a new age, the club was renamed as the Croydon 60+ Club Limited, and
continued to operate its members club offering social and leisure facilities, cheap lunchtime meals, and outings.
Sadly, in 2020 when the pandemic, Covid hit, the government imposed a lockdown on all social gatherings and the club was forced to temporarily close its doors.
It was a moment from which the members club would not recover. With no new regular income from fundraising events, or from the local authority, together with the loss of members, the decision was reluctantly made to close the members club on a permanent basis.
However the charity that bears its name continued to exist, waiting for the moment when it was able to reappear in a new guise with a new mission.
That moment duly arrived and the charity has relaunched as The Croydon 60+ Benevolent Fund Ltd.
Retaining their original objective, “To promote the welfare of older people living in the London Borough of Croydon in any manner which now is or hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable”, the charity is now able to offer, through a grant application process, financial support to other charities, and individuals in Croydon whose objectives align with their own.
To find out more about the grant application process, qualifying charities and individuals should contact the charity as shown on the Contact Us page
"Promoting the welfare of older people living in the London Borough of Croydon"
The Croydon 60+ Club regenerates and transforms purpose for the benefit of the communty.
The Croydon 60+ Club is one of the boroughs oldest charities, and to adopt a quote from MarkTwain, “The report of our death is an exaggeration”.
The Club began life, almost 80 years ago as the Croydon Darby and Joan Club established in April 1945 at the initiative of the then Mayor of Croydon, George Lewin, and with the support of Sir Herbert Williams MP.
The club’s first President was Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was the second Darby and Joan Club in the country, the first being at Streatham.
The club was a social centre for the elderly, membership was free to all old age pensioners resident in Croydon, and it offered cheap meals and teas, hot baths, leisure facilities (a lounge, a billiard room, a sewing room, a library, a television room, etc), and events such as whist drives and outings.
The club was originally based in Haling Cottage, 76 Brighton Road (leased from the Whitgift
Foundation), which formally opened in July 1945. It subsequently moved to freehold premises at 'Parkhyrst', 58 Addiscombe Road, which opened in July 1948. The club was largely financed by voluntary contributions and through a range of fundraising activities.
Throughout the subsequent years the club continued to operate under the guidance of the ‘great and good’ of Croydon, in particular, in more recent times, its Chairman, Edward Handley.
For more than half a century the Handleys were one of the most famous families in Croydon with their name proudly displayed in white bricks on top of a 160ft chimney which towered over the town. Edward is the son of the owner of the brickworks.
Later adapting to a new age, the club was renamed as the Croydon 60+ Club Limited, and
continued to operate its members club offering social and leisure facilities, cheap lunchtime meals, and outings.
Sadly, in 2020 when the pandemic, Covid hit, the government imposed a lockdown on all social gatherings and the club was forced to temporarily close its doors.
It was a moment from which the members club would not recover. With no new regular income from fundraising events, or from the local authority, together with the loss of members, the decision was reluctantly made to close the members club on a permanent basis.
However the charity that bears its name continued to exist, waiting for the moment when it was able to reappear in a new guise with a new mission.
That moment duly arrived and the charity has relaunched as The Croydon 60+ Benevolent Fund Ltd.
Retaining their original objective, “To promote the welfare of older people living in the London Borough of Croydon in any manner which now is or hereafter may be deemed by law to be charitable”, the charity is now able to offer, through a grant application process, financial support to other charities, and individuals in Croydon whose objectives align with their own.
To find out more about the grant application process, qualifying charities and individuals should contact the charity as shown on the Contact Us page
The Croydon 60+ Benevolent Fund Ltd
(A Private Company limited by guarantee without share capital - Reg No. 6980274)
(Formerly The Croydon 60+ Club Ltd a Registered Charity No. 1136734)
