OrganFax Directory

Ascot Organ and Keyboard Club

Telephone Number :  01344 457984

Email address :  ascotdos@yahoo.co.uk

Contact name :  Tony Reed

Venue address : All Saints Church Hall, London Road, Ascot, SL5 8DQ

About Ascot Organ and Keyboard Club

ASCOT ORGAN and KEYBOARD CLUB is a friendly club that meets monthly. It holds a mixture of professional and amateur nights and the occasional charity evening. This not only raises money for good causes, but also promotes the club. The club tries to give younger artistes just starting on the circuit a chance as well as the "OLD" favourites. As you will see from our concert diary they have a good selection of top artistes covering many styles of music. Refreshments are included in the entrance fee so why not go along and hear some of the best professional organists play - or just listen to some of the local talent you didn't know existed!

Quite a few of our members have their own organs or keyboards. All try to help each other where possible, and encourage each other to play at our amateur evenings, when players can bring along their own instruments (organs by prior arrangement with the Chairman) or play the club organ, a Technics GA1. A light hearted competition is held annually and a cup presented to the most improved player. The club is always glad to welcome amateur players to show off their talents. Their family, friends and all those wishing to have an evening of live music in friendly surroundings are also welcome at all meetings. This includes members of other clubs who are visiting the area.

In July the club holds a summer social with a fish & chip supper and a very relaxed atmosphere. This gives members who have not played before the chance to "have-a-go" with less pressure. Our charity night held in October 2009 was in aid of Help for Heroes, in which the club was able to raise just over £1000 for this worthwhile cause, further details below. There are several photographs from this event shown in the gallery.

The club is very well run by Chairman Tony Reed and a dedicated hard working committee. It has a reputation for being one of the friendliest and welcoming clubs in the country.

The club usually meets on the third Friday of the month at 8pm.

Subscription: £10 (concession £9)

Members admission: £4.50

Visitors admission: £5.50

Club nights are charged at £3.00 for members and £3.50 for guests.

Charity Night - Mission Accomplished!

On 2nd of October 2009 the club held an extra event, a charity night to raise money for Help for Heroes. These occassions are always well supported by the members but this one was exceptional.  It was all put together in about 3 months and a start was made in August and September, by  just putting the collection tin on the tea bar.  This and a "Name the Doll" competition in September raised over £200 - a good start to the main event.

On the night itself the committee and helpers arrived early to decorate the hall with flags and to set up their stalls : bric-a-brac, home-made cakes, music ( all donated by members) and Help for Heroes merchandise.  Doors opened half an hour early to allow folks to browse and spend lots of money, the cake stall alone made £80!

Peter Davis, representing the charity, spoke for a few minutes to explain exactly what the money would pay for, then it was on with the entertainment. Four of the clubs more accomplished players, Doug Rigby, David Lawrence, John Evans and Gill Coombs had been invited to play and they had all put a tremendous effort into their programmes, playing a lot of music suited to the theme.

An extra special spot was the return of the Vice-President, Ron Winter, who had not been able to play at the club for several years. He wanted to " do his bit" so members, family and friends, sponsored him to play for 10 minutes.  This gave him a reason to re-kindle his enthusiasm, and with the help from Gill and Ada he played very well, bringing the house down and raising £246 into the bargain. The finale was a " Last night of the Proms " theme with much singing and flag waving and finally everyone on their feet for Auld Lang Syne.

A huge raffle, very generously contributed to by local firms and members, swelled the coffers and nearly £1000 was raised, and with further donations the total now stands at £1200, a big sum from a small club of about 100 members with very big hearts. These events not only help the charity but also the atmosphere of the club, pulling everyone together in a common cause and having great fun in the process.

Our Venue

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