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Vernon Walker (90), Eileen Cookson (74) and Michael Selby (69) wait for the opportunity to fill their glasses
Vernon Walker (90), Eileen Cookson (74) and Michael Selby (69) wait for the opportunity to fill their glasses
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Please help us lift our spirits!

Pete Bainbridge
12/ 3/2008

ELDERLY people at the town’s newest care home hope to have their spirits lifted after an application was submitted for an alcohol licence.

Belong retirement village, on Kennedy Avenue, threw open its doors six months ago – but there was no communal celebratory champagne in the booze-free zone.

Without a licence, their specially-built bar has an empty fridge and there is no boogieing to top tunes from a live band.

But now the managers have applied for an alcohol and entertainment licence to end the drought and let the tenants enjoy a tipple with their friends in the evening.

At the moment, residents can sup a wee dram or two, but it must be in their living quarters, rather than in the entertainment room where, besides a bar, there is a state-of-the-art TV and sound system.

CLS Care Services, who run Belong, have also applied to provide music, both live and recorded, and allow for the performance of plays and shows, which means if MBC give them the green light, it will be party time.

A CLS spokesman said having a quiet drink in the bar with friends and neighbours was an essential part of retirement village life.

"Residents currently can have a beer or a glass of wine at home in the evening like everyone else. But because they can’t nip out to the pub as they used to in their younger days, we would like to bring the conviviality of an evening out to them. The whole purpose of the village is to allow residents to continue enjoying normal life in a safe, sociable and enjoyable environment."

CLS Care Services have applied for a premises licence to supply alcohol from Monday to Sunday between 10am and midnight, and provide entertainment.

This includes plays, films, live music, performances of dance (Monday to Sunday between 9am and 11pm), recorded music, making of music, dancing (Monday to Sunday 9am to midnight), and late-night refreshment (Monday to Sunday 11pm to midnight).

They have also applied for an extension of these times by one hour at Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

The application will go before MBC’s licensing committee later this year, and residents can’t wait to see if beer will Belong in their glasses.


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Most recent 2 of 2 user comments

   They have no need on a license for alcohol, or music as they are residents and it is their home. Now if the firm CLS want to turn it into a business providing Drink, Music, entertainment etc, that is another matter. They would also need outsiders using it as a club.

It is not a club it is a residential retirement home.

T.Eastman, Henbury
21/03/2008 at 14:15
   Let them enjoy a drink i say. Its hardly like it will need much policing so let them crack on.
The Satisfied Customer
18/03/2008 at 11:36
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