Desperate battle to keep Preston's Jalgos Club alive

A rescue mission to save Preston’s only remaining Afro-Caribbean club from closure will be launched on Saturday, January 25, 2020.
Volunteer Gemma Swain is pleading with the Preston public to rally round and help save the Jalgos Club.Volunteer Gemma Swain is pleading with the Preston public to rally round and help save the Jalgos Club.
Volunteer Gemma Swain is pleading with the Preston public to rally round and help save the Jalgos Club.

Volunteers, who have been keeping the Jalgos Sports and Social Club open despite falling membership, will throw open the doors of the venue in Rose Street in a desperate bid to revive interest.

“We are literally on the verge of shutting,” said committee member Gemma Swain (inset), who is helping to organise the community day.

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“If we don’t do something to get the community on board then we don’t have a future.

The Jalgos Club in Preston city centre.The Jalgos Club in Preston city centre.
The Jalgos Club in Preston city centre.

“It’s a crying shame to see how things have dwindled - we are only surviving because of volunteers putting their time and effort in for nothing.

“The Jalgos Club is part of Preston’s history and if it goes then the city won’t have a club for the Caribbean community to meet.

"It’s an old saying, but it really is a case of use it or lose it.”

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The Jalgos Club was founded in 1976 by members of a local cricket team. For many years it thrived alongside Preston’s Caribbean Club in Canute Street, which closed down in 2009.

“We want to get back to how things were,” said Gemma. “It won’t be easy, but we have to try.”

The community day begins at 3pm and will have something for everyone, with children's entertainment and dance in the afternoon and later a Ska night for adults. Caribbean food will be on offer throughout the day.