AROUND 5,000 homes across Basildon will be leafleted in a bid to save a social club.

Benbow – Benfleet and Bowers Gifford Community Association – is in danger because of dwindling membership numbers.

Karen Watts, a member of the club’s committee, has been out and about leafleting homes and notifying residents about a bank holiday Sunday fundraising barbecue.

She said: “I think we’ve come to this situation because of several reasons, one is the credit crunch, but also because a lot of new people have moved to the area and they don’t know we are here.

“We look like a church hall, but we’re not, we’re a social club!”

The club in Pound Lane, Bowers Gifford, has a licensed bar, and is open several nights a week including at weekends.

Karen stressed: “It only costs £15 a year to join, which isn’t a lot. It’s a lovely place, really friendly, but unless people use us they will lose us. We are down to just 250 members at the moment and we need to double that at least.

“We are not operated by the council, we are a community association run by the community for the community.”

In addition to the barbecue, which starts at 1.30pm a charity chest wax event in aid of St Luke’s Hospice is also being held. Karen added: “We wanted to raise some money for charity as well.”