Demonstrators gathered in Mansfield to protest against the closure of their beloved miners' welfare which has stood for generations.
Members were left stunned when it emerged the Basford Hall Miners' Welfare club in Goldcrest Road had closed on January 10 after it was reportedly put into liquidation.
On Wednesday (March 2) regulars at the club congregated outside the offices of CISWO, The Coal Mining Charity, to protest against the closure of the venue.
Demonstrators, who gathered outside the offices in Berry Hill Lane, Mansfield, said they felt let down, claiming that they had not been consulted over plans for the future of the building.
Some only found out about the club's liquidation through a statement on Facebook which said "the club is closed with immediate effect" and that "further details will be given at a later point".
One member said the said the campaigners will continue to protest if they do not get their venue back.
Protest organiser Josie Hart, 74, of Aspley, said: "I've learnt today that's it's already being advertised on the Facebook page as a business centre and conference hall so that means they've already made a decision that they're not going to let us have it.
"Come out and talk to us. All we want is our room back and it's been our room since 1939 - we want it back.
"We're not going to go away. Even if they liquidate it, which it looks like they will do, we will still protest.
"It means everything to me; I've been going for 30 years. I went with my husband who's been dead for seven years and we went all the time.
"I've been the charity organiser, we've raised funds for Rainbow, the children's charity, we did Save the Heroes when the tsunami hit, we've raised money for the children's ward at QMC."
Jennifer Boulton, 70, who lives on the same street as the welfare club, said: "Hucknall, Linby, Mansfield; all of our family are miners and we feel they've let us down.
"I live on the same street, we all feel a very close connection to the club and we've got some terrific memories there.
"My sister, she's travelled from Wales to be here - that's how passionate we are.
"We've will continue to stage peaceful protests if they go ahead with this, of course."
Basford Hall Miners' Welfare club is owned by Basford Hall Miners' Welfare Centre.
Following three other meetings where the shock closure of the club was discussed, a fourth took place at Headstocks Public House in Cinderhill in January.
Regulars were told that they would have to raise £30,000 in order to keep the venue afloat.
Members have since said there were two realistic scenarios for the future of the club.
One is to try and fight the liquidation and the other for members to wait for the liquidation process to be dealt with, and the for the club to start again as a new entity.
Ms Boulton's sister, Barbara Barnes, made her way from north Wales to be at the protest.
She added: "I've been a member for about four years now.
"But when our father was alive I used to go there as a child, used to do sports days, cricket racing, everything as a child.
"They never had meeting to say 'this is what's going to happen in six months' time."
Bill Newbury, 77, said: "I've been going 20 years.
"A lot of the members renewed their membership fees the day before they closed it.
"We renewed ours a fortnight before they closed it.
"It's not right what's going on at the moment and that's why we need to be out here protesting."
CISWO has said that it is disappointed that campaigners decided to protest outside of their offices and that the commercial operation of the club is not their responsibility.
A spokesperson said: "“The commercial operation of Basford Hall Miners’ Welfare was not CISWO’s responsibility.
“Despite numerous and transparent conversations with campaigners, we are disappointed they chose to protest at one of our regional offices today, disrupting the delivery of our services to support former miners’ and their families.
“We are, however, working with the independent charity that owns the site to identify how facilities can continue to be used for the local community.”
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