VILLAGERS in Timberscombe were shocked this week by news of the village’s Old Dairy Social Centre closing after 23 years.

The centre, which reopened in 2022 after Covid, provided care, entertainment, and food for the village’s elderly, lonely, and disabled.

Thanks poured in to chairman John Goodall and his committee, who have kept the centre going after Magna Housing stopped funding the building in 2023.

Parish council clerk Lesley Webb said: “I would like to say a huge thank you to John and his team for working so hard to keep the community building open for so long.

“They have been absolutely amazing.

“The village hall committee will do all it can to accommodate groups who currently use the Old Dairy.”

Online tributes praised the team for ‘always thinking of others’, ‘being a big part of the community’, and ‘doing a fantastic job for so long’.

Mr Goodall, a retired chief executive of a chain of takeaway shops, said the decision to close the Old Dairy was made ‘after sleepless nights and lots of soul-searching’.

He said: “The centre has always been very well supported.

“But, unfortunately, as the years have rolled on, age and illness has taken its toll and made it impossible for people to attend and help us.

“We are now very low on helpers, which makes things very difficult to arrange and we have decided to close the community centre down.

“Thank you all for your help and support over the years”

Magna Housing, which held the lease on the Old Dairy, stepped down in 2023, saying there was insufficient demand for the social club’s services.

Mr Goodall and a group of volunteers then kept the organisation running for the village.

During the Covid lockdowns the group produced more than 15,000 meals which many people described as ‘an absolute Godsend’.