By Daniel Pye
Tommy Mclouglin’s Tuesday Lunch Club continues to provide over 200 Irish and local elderly residents in Leeds with entertainment, food and companionship after the pandemic.
Tommy, who has run Leeds Irish Centre since 1974, set up the club to give a space for the older Irish community of Leeds to meet, but it has since grown in scale. Some of the oldest members are in their mid-90s.
One member who preferred not to be named told Yorkshire Voice: “If it wasn’t for Tuesday Club, I’d be sat at home. Bingo is too expensive and my family all work so I can’t see them in the week. Tuesday Club provides entertainment for a large part of the day.”
The Club had to stop for most of the pandemic to protect the members. It only started again at the end of November.
“It was very hard during the pandemic,” Tommy McLoughlin said. “We lost a few members in the time. But it’s great to be back.”