Memorial Social Centre (MSC)
The Scene…
Our Village Magazine
Latest News …
Late Autumn Scene 2024
We are pleased to say that the late autumn issue of The Wickhambrook Scene is now published. It has information on start-times for Remembrance Sunday, Tribute to the Fallen, MSC AGM, plus up-and-coming events, news from WI and Parish Council, Cheveley and Ashley...
Early Autumn Scene 2024
We are pleased to announce that the latest issue of The Wickhambrook Scene is now published. You can view the digital document by clicking the link hereOr by viewing the post on any of the local Facebook groups (Wickhambrook & Lidgate, Wickhambrook Community,...
Early Summer Scene 2024
We are pleased to announce that the latest issue of The Wickhambrook Scene is now published. You can view the digital document by clicking the link hereOr by viewing the post on any of the local Facebook groups (Wickhambrook & Lidgate, Wickhambrook Community,...
The MSC is available for hire for weddings, dances, private parties, etc.
There is ample parking available.
All bookings and correspondence (in the first instance) should be sent to the MSC Bookings Manager
The main committee is as follows:
| Chair | Steve Thwaite |
| Vice-Chair | Gloria Harrison |
| Treasurer | Barbara Merritt |
| Secretary | Sandy Wood |
| Bookings | Beverley Harding |
| Hall Manager | Ken Mayes |
MEMORIAL SOCIAL CENTRE (MSC)
Cemetery Road
Wickhambrook
Suffolk
CB8 8XR
The Memorial Social Centre (MSC) is at the heart of Wickhambrook and provides a venue for many of the clubs and societies to hold their meetings and events. The Centre is made up of :
- A Foyer
- The Dulcie Smith Room which has recently been refurbished and is now a bright, additional room to hire for meetings, classes, exercise etc.
- The Main Hall with a stage
- A Club Room with a bar
- Pavilion with bar together with toilet and kitchen facilities.
- The local football pitch, play area, tennis courts, bowls green, skatepark and recreation ground are all located near to the MSC.
Wickhambrook has excellent facilities for the many events that take place throughout the year.
Only parts of the Hall are used for our regular events and so please feel free to enquire of the Booking Manager whether arrangements can be made to accommodate your function.
Conditions of Hire
Please view the Conditions of Hire before making your reservation.
MSC Booking Form
The Scene is our village magazine and is updated every other month.
Memorial Social Centre (MSC)
Cemetery Road
Wickhambrook
Suffolk
CB8 8XP
camping
Please note that Camping is strictly prohibited anywhere on the recreation field or playing field. Any cause for concerns can be reported to Suffolk Police by ringing 101.
Dogs
Dogs are now permitted on the recreation field, provided they are kept under close control (on a lead) and are not taken onto the grassed sports and play area. Please keep to the perimeter of the field.
Recycling
A polite request from the Memorial Social Centre management committee.
“If you find any of the recycling bins full, or nearly full, it would help prevent a mess of fly-tipping around them if you could please report the fact using the telephone number below. If it’s reported several times, they don’t mind.”
BOTTLE BANKS – 01842 820804
The History of the MSC …
It all began on 27th November 1944. A public meeting was called, the venue unknown, the W.I. Hall perhaps. The instigator of this meeting was William Underwood ably assisted by Leonard Harbutt. It was decided that a village hall was needed and that it should be called the MEMORIAL Hall in memory of those that had died in the First World War and for those still giving their lives in the Second. The aid of the Suffolk Rural Community Council was sought. A second meeting was held on the 22nd January 1945, a committee was formed and the planning of the Memorial Hall began. Unfortunately there are no members of that committee alive today.
A further meeting chose the site, the corner of the recreation ground, it also chose the format of the committee. It was decided that every organisation in the village should be represented on it; this with slight adjustment still exists today. Fundraising began and grants were obtained. It took five years to raise the funds and construct the building. It was formally opened on 13th April 1951 by its Chairman Mr Griffiths Woollard. They were obviously not superstitious! We can be proud of their achievements.
Since those early days much has changed. The Hall and Recreation Ground Committees have amalgamated to become the Memorial Social Centre.
However all was not easy in the early sixties monetary crisis loomed and there was talk of ‘putting the hall on rates’ or even closing it and using it as a barn to store corn.
The Community Council was formed in 1966 with the intention of saving the building, modernising and extending it. Once again the fundraising began and grants were obtained. This resulted in a refurbished kitchen, a club room, modern toilets, a front foyer and (Dulcie Smith) snooker room. It was formally opened in May 1972 by Mrs Eldon Griffiths the wife of the local Member of Parliament. The snooker club flourished for over thirty years but, as membership dwindled, in 2019 it was decided to refurbish the D.S.Room for multi-purpose use, with the installation of Wi-Fi and smart screen and kitchenette.
The pavilion at the rear of the building was added at a later stage with much of the labour assisted by village tradesmen, many of whom were local footballers and cricketers with a keen interest in the new facility that the MSC were providing.
The Memorial Social Centre is part of an excellent leisure complex which comprises a tennis court, and a bowling green together with a Teen Project Skate/BMX/Sports Park and a children’s play area.
Wickhambrook has some of the best recreational facilities in the area and the village hall is second to none.
We can be proud of our Memorial Social Centre and thank those far sighted villages who, in 1944 during the dark days of the war decided that Wickhambrook should remember its fallen heroes with a living reminder of their deeds. Let us hope the complex continues to thrive and to serve future generations a fitting memorial to those who gave their lives for our freedom.