Circle completed as club closes after 50 years

Bilston Ladies Circle brought the curtain down on five decades of fundraising and friendship during a celebration of its history.

The organisation was founded in 1961 as a social club for the wives of members of the now-defunct Bilston Round Table.

At its peak it had more than 40 but membership has steadily declined in recent years and the club folded on Saturday with just six members.

The sextet, consisting of chairwoman Tracey Simkins, age 39, secretary Jo Aston, aged 41, treasurer Karen Ruby, 44, and members Susan Whittal, 44, Sue Woodcock, 44, and Jayne Ball, 41, were joined by more than 50 former members for a commemorative dinner at Bilston Town Hall. Members past and present admitted it was a sad end to the organisation but they raising £400 each for Green Park Special School and Bilston Fellowship of the Disabled.

The club's second-ever president and founder member Eve White, who took the reins in 1963-64 and is now aged 78, said: "We are sad that it is closing but the friendship it has given us has been unbelievable, and we are still all friends now long after many of us left the circle."

Former president for 1991-1992 Jan Grey, added: "It is a sad occasion in a way but falling membership seems to be a problem for all organisations at the moment."