Britain is losing its community spaces.
Pubs are disappearing. Community centres are closing. More people than ever talk openly about loneliness and isolation.
Yet one institution that has long brought people together is still often dismissed with outdated stereotypes and lazy clichés: the working men’s club.
For Dr Ruth Cherrington, one of the UK’s leading experts on club culture, that misunderstanding has become increasingly frustrating.
“Working Men’s Clubs were never just about beer and bingo,” she says.
“They’ve always been places where communities came together, where friendships were formed and where people supported each other through good times and bad.”
Ruth recently delivered a keynote speech at the national CIU AGM in Blackpool, where she warned delegates that Britain is “sleepwalking into a loneliness and isolation crisis” as traditional social spaces continue to disappear.
It’s a subject she knows intimately.
Growing up in Coventry’s clubland
Long before becoming an academic and author, Ruth grew up immersed in Coventry’s working men’s club scene.
Places like Coombe Social, Radford Social and Willenhall Social were woven into everyday life. Coventry itself was once known as the “Queen of Clubs City”, with around 60 clubs across the city at their peak.
These weren’t just places people visited occasionally.
They were where birthdays were celebrated, weddings held and friendships formed. They hosted live music, sports teams, charity events, Christmas parties and club trips that, for many families, were the only holiday of the year.
For some people, clubs offered more than entertainment.
One story recalled in Ruth’s research describes how a bingo win helped cover essential household bills during difficult times. Others remember clubs rallying around members facing hardship, illness or bereavement.
In many communities, clubs filled gaps that nobody else did.
More important than ever?
During her speech in Blackpool, Ruth argued that working men’s clubs may actually be more important today than they were in their heyday.
As the cost-of-living crisis continues and social isolation increases, she believes clubs still provide something increasingly rare: affordable social connection.
“As more community centres, pubs and social spaces disappear, clubs have become even more important,” she explained.
“They help tackle loneliness, bring generations together and provide affordable entertainment and social contact for ordinary people.”
She even suggested that club membership could one day be “socially prescribed” as a way of helping combat loneliness, mental health problems and dementia.
It’s a striking idea - but perhaps not as far-fetched as it first sounds.
After all, countless studies now point to the importance of social interaction and community belonging in maintaining both physical and mental well-being.
Working men’s clubs were delivering exactly that decades before terms like “social prescribing” entered the public conversation.
The fight for survival
Of course, clubs have also faced enormous challenges.
The decline of heavy industry, changing leisure habits and rising running costs have all taken their toll. Many famous venues have disappeared altogether, while others have had to reinvent themselves to survive.
Ruth believes the clubs that thrive in the future will be the ones willing to evolve while still preserving the sense of community that made them special in the first place.
Retro discos, tribute acts, live music and family-friendly events are all helping some clubs attract new audiences.
But she warns that many communities have already lost these spaces forever.
“What a thriving club might look like in the future can often be found by learning from the best examples of the past,” she says.
Preserving Coventry’s clubland story
For years, Ruth has worked to ensure that working men’s clubs are recognised as an important part of Britain’s social history - and particularly Coventry’s.
Her book, 'Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to Coventry’s Working Men’s Clubs', captures that world through first-hand memories, rare photographs and extensive research.
Originally published in 2020, the book quickly struck a chord with readers interested in Coventry history, nightlife and working-class culture.
After being out of print for more than two years, it has now been republished.
More than anything, Ruth hopes the stories inside it remind people what clubs were really about.
Not just beer and bingo.
But belonging.
If you’d like to explore more of Coventry’s clubland history, you can view the republished edition of Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to Coventry’s Working Men’s Clubs here.