A WORKING Men’s Club that had gone into receivership has been brought back from the brink thanks to a new owner.

Morris Street Working Men’s Club has been taken over by Margaret Burns, a member who previously ran the White House, in the town centre.

The club, in Rodbourne, had been losing around £500 a week due to tough trading conditions in the licensed trade.

But Miss Burns, who will be helped by her daughter, plans to turn it into thriving family-friendly venue.

“We want to carry out a refurbishment and bring more families into the club through functions and entertainment,” she said. “It’s important for younger people to come in as it gives them a better outlook on life and keeps them out of trouble.

“The club like this is somewhere where you make friends for life.”

After the purchase had gone through Miss Burns, of Old Town, was stunned to find a ‘function room for hire’ sign from the White House in the wall of the club.

She said: “I had no idea about the sign until someone showed me. The only thing that had changed was that the rate had gone up from £50 to £60. I bought the club because it felt right. It’s as if it’s meant to be.”

Members continued to support the venue after the receivers were appointed in November.

About 70 people attended a meeting earlier this year with specialists from FRP Advisory LLP and have ensured it has continued to trade. The sale was completed on July 6.

FRP’s director Nathan Jones and partner Chris Stirland had traded the venue by working closely with a secured creditor and the club’s committee and members.

Mr Stirland said: “When we were appointed as LPA Receivers last year, the club had been making losses of around £500 per week excluding the festive period.   "However we were able to turn this around by trading the club under new management and instigating initiatives put forward by the committee and members.

“It is a testimony to the dedication and support of the secured creditor and members that we were able to sustain the club during the past seven-and-a-half months and that it will now continue to trade.

"I am delighted to announce that we have concluded a sale, which provides a future for such an integral part of the local community.”

Archives about the club dating back to the 1950s are held at Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Another historical artefact which has emerged in recent years is an outing programme card for a tour of flower beds in 1938.