Save the future of St Matthias Snooker Club, Ditchling Road, Brighton

A 95-Year Community Institution at Risk

Why This Matters

St Matthias Snooker Club on Ditchling Road has been part of Brighton life since 1929. For nearly a century it has provided friendship, purpose, and community to generations of local people.

Now, without warning and without honouring long-standing commitments, St Matthias Church is attempting to evict the Club, putting its future and a vital community space at risk.

This is not just about a building.
It is about fairness, trust, and the survival of community life in Brighton.

A Promise Made, and Now Broken

In 1931, St Matthias Church formally agreed that the Snooker Club could build its own facility on Church land.

• The Club paid for the building in full
• The Club has maintained it entirely for over 90 years
• The agreement clearly stated that the Club could only be required to leave if the Church built a permanent replacement facility that included a new home for the Club.

For decades, this agreement was respected. Church officials regularly served as Club presidents. The relationship was cooperative and mutually supportive.

In 1980, when the Church applied for permission to build housing on the site, it explicitly accepted this obligation, offering alternative accommodation and to cover relocation costs. Planning permission was refused, and therefore the Club remained in the same building.

What Is Happening Now

The Church is now claiming the 1931 agreement was “unlawful” and is seeking to evict the Club without providing any replacement facility.

This represents:

• A reversal of nearly a century of cooperation
• A denial of past commitments the Church itself previously recognised
• The potential destruction of one of Brighton’s oldest community institutions

We are willing to consider any proposal that assures the long-term security of the Club. The church has only proposed a new short term lease on the building, which does not secure a long term future for the Club.

The Human Cost

The Club has over 100 members, aged 16 to 90. Many are local residents and parishioners of the Church.

In Brighton, many long-standing community spaces are under increasing pressure from rising costs, redevelopment, and changing priorities. Pubs, clubs, and affordable social venues that once formed the backbone of local life are steadily disappearing, leaving fewer places where people can meet regularly, form friendships, and feel part of something rooted in their neighbourhood. At the same time, social isolation and loneliness are growing concerns across the city. Against this backdrop, St Matthias Snooker Club provides:

• Mental wellbeing and routine
• Friendship and belonging
• A rare intergenerational meeting place

For many members, particularly older and retired people, this Club is their main social connection. Its closure would not be replaced.

A David and Goliath Struggle

This is a volunteer-run club with limited resources facing a powerful institution with access to significant legal support.

We are not asking for special treatment.
We are asking for promises to be honoured and therefore for the Church to commit to a continuing long-term partnership with the Club.

Our Call to Action

We ask you to stand with us by:

1. Signing this petition and thereby calling on the Church to honour its long-standing commitments. Note: There is no need to make a donation when doing so, any donations made do not come to the Club
2. Leaving comments, personal stories, or messages you might have on the petition page - signing the petition enables you to do this, click here once you have signed (Any longer or more personal stories or testaments can be sent to us at the email below)
3. Sharing this campaign with friends and family

If a 95-year-old club that built, paid for, and cared for its own home can be pushed aside, no community space is safe.

With your support, we can ensure that St Matthias Snooker Club is not lost — and that fairness, trust, and community still matter in Brighton.

Yours sincerely,
St Matthias Snooker Club

If you would like to get in touch, please do so at: savestmatthiassnookerclub@gmail.com

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