Rushden Mothers' Clubs

  The First Rushden Mothers’ Club was set up in the early 1960’s, at the instigation of the town’s Health Visitor Audrey Mair for mothers with small children to meet together and socialize. Many women then did not go out to work or have access to a car so it offered them a break from the domestic routine.

   The meetings were held once a month at Rectory Road Health Clinic at 7.30pm. There was usually a speaker, followed by refreshments and the club notices and announcements. A certain proportion of the topics covered had to be on health, childcare, etc. The committee organized frequent outings to varied locations, quizzes, jumble sales, bazaars, competitions and an annual carnival float, as well as the children’s Christmas Party.

   The club became so popular that it was soon over-subscribed, so a Second Rushden Mothers’ Club was formed with Carol Rajkumar as its nominated Health Visitor. This also proved very popular, so eventually, in order to accommodate the ever-increasing membership, it was decided that when a mother’s youngest child reached the age of eleven the mother would have to leave her club. This gave rise to the Rushden Mothers’ Social Club, consisting of these senior members, and in time a fourth group called The Midway Club, which continued in existence long after the other clubs were disbanded.

   A very important off-shoot of the Mothers’ Clubs was a playgroup, held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the clinic, where a trained leader, the first being Christine Prigiss and later on Sue Dawkins, aided by a rota of three or four mothers, organized pre-school activities for children of three and over. Once a month there was also a Tufty Club to teach them road safety awareness. This was originally run by Joyce Usher, followed by Irene Dickman, and was only disbanded when the cost of its insurance became prohibitive.

   As mothers increasingly started to go out to work full-time, to drive their own cars and become more independent the popularity and necessity for the clubs declined and they were disbanded during the late 1980’s, although in recent years efforts have been made to reform a Rushden Mothers’ Club.

  During their heyday the clubs gave endless pleasure and interest to hundreds of mothers and children and were a vital and vibrant part of Rushden’s social history of that time. Forty years on the members and their families still enjoy fond memories and life-long friends from those days and owe a great debt of gratitude to the initiative and foresight of Audrey Mair. 
 

Click here for Miss Mair's retirement

Moving to Scotland

Obituary

 

Some Memories of The 1st Rushden Mothers' Club There was a waiting list when I applied to join the 1st Rushden Mothers' Club in the 1960s. The meetings were held at the Rectory Road Clinic and enabled mums to have an evening out while dads looked after the children. We had various speakers and demonstrations of interest, spring fairs, children's outings, I remember going to Twycross Zoo, in 1976 we went to Guilsborough Grange and saw the effects of the drought at Pitsford Resevoir on the way, also a shopping trip to Milton Keynes. I recall the late Janet Wood being chairman, I served a term as treasurer. We had annual dinner dances in the Windmill Ballroom when mums would dress up in long dresses or skirts which was a change from the fashionable mini-skirt. The club was so popular a second one was formed. Margaret Matthews

Spring Fair 28th April 1973 - Janet Wood chairman, with her daughters and Margaret Matthews committee member with her daughter Karen.

Mother's Club Complaint

Evening Telegraph, Monday, April 20, 2009, by Zara Gaspar GET-TOGETHER - from left, Janet Holloway, Julie West and Ellen Inwood, and, inset, a picture of the club in 1973 Mothers’ group takes trip down memory lane FORMER members of a mothers' club which was formed more than four decades ago will be reuniting next week. Three former chairmen of the Rushden Mothers' Social Club - Janet Holloway, Julie West and Ellen Inwood - will be holding the reunion next week and are hoping to see as many old friends as possible. Mrs Holloway said: "We just thought it is about time we have a reunion to get together and meet all the people who had been with us over the years. "We are all looking forward to it and we think it will be a wonderful event." The Rushden Mothers' Social Club was formed in the early 1960s by health visitor Audrey Mair. It was held at Rectory Road Clinic in Rushden and gave young mothers a chance to get out of the house and socialise with others who were having the same experiences. The club was a huge success, with 120 members and a constant waiting list. It evolved every year with more members, with a second Rushden Mothers' Club, and then the Rushden Mothers' Social Club in 1971 under chairman Janet Holloway. Mrs Inwood said: "We were all young mothers and we couldn't get out. The majority of us didn't work, we didn't have a lot of money and we didn't have cars. We used to meet at the clinic in the evening and we had speakers and fundraising events. "We had a wonderful time in those days. It was a real tight-knit community where everyone knew each other and we made wonderful friendships." The club came to an end in 1988 after the death of Miss Mair. The clinic was no longer available for use and the members' children had grown up. Now more than 50 former members have said they will attend the reunion and the organisers are hoping even more will turn up. The reunion will be held on Tuesday, April 28, at St Mary's Church hall in Rushden. From 2pm to 4pm former members of the Rushden Mothers' Social Club will be able to enjoy afternoon tea while reminiscing. Anyone attending the reunion is asked to take along any old photographs of the group. Admission is £5.

New Club 1968