1971
1971 It was clear from the Chairman’s Report that any form of reliance on financial donations was now wholly insufficient. Therefore, ‘The only way of preserving this type of Club, is to combine it with commercial and social activities, or as a community centre, producing a regular income.’ On the club-side, activities continued to flourish […]
1970
1970 The report began with some encouraging words from the new Warden, who was clearly impressed by the calibre of Dingle lads: “This being my first year as Warden of The ‘Florrie’ I wondered if the old type of activity would be acceptable to the boys of the 1970s. I was more than pleasantly surprised […]
1965
1965 This year saw the conversion of the canteen into a ‘Bat Bar’! Twenty one Florrie boys built new furniture, fitted new lighting, wallpapered, painted and made the ‘Batman’ sign. Lead was stolen from roof by ‘some mean individual’ , which led the roof to require waterproofing, along with the replacement of broken windows, damaged […]
1963
1963 The redevelopment of the Mill Street area presented the Florrie with the possibility of a permanent reduction in members; densely packed houses were replaced with open spaces and the population overall declined. ‘It is quite possible, for instance, that this area may well have more youth clubs than are really required, whilst there are […]
1962
1962 The 1962-63 report described an ‘acute’ situation due to the lack of voluntary workers. This lack lead to the deterioration in standards of behaviour which ultimately undermined the good work the Florrie sought to do. The absence of voluntary works between the hours of 6-7.30pm meant that the club would be forced to close […]
1961
1961 1961-62 saw The Florrie continue to run the more traditional activities alongside new interests such as go-karting, canoe building, budgie breeding (the Pioneer section only) and continental camping trips. Despite the innovate programme, these were challenging times for the Youth Service: ‘Officially, children between the ages of 11-14 years are outside the scope of […]
1960
1960 This year’s report detailed the ‘modernization’ of the surrounding area and changing national landscape: ‘Since last year new flats across the road from the Florrie have been completed and everywhere the story is the same. Old, decaying, terraced houses being pulled down and in their place are rising new blocks of modern flats. Antiquated […]
1959
1959 The publication of the Albemarle Report on the Youth Service ignited public interest in the work of clubs such as the Florence Institute. Yet it was warned the Report could lead to the mistaken impression that funding for youth work would come from central government in its entirety; it was a surety that in […]
1958
1958 This year’s report recorded the sad death of President Mr. T. Leslie Hamner. His replacement, Mr. Trevor Holden, was called a ‘living tradition in The Florrie’ having served as voluntary helper, Committee member, and was twice Chairman of the Institute. The Committee reflected on the difficulty of retaining the interest of older boys, and […]
1957
1957 The report welcomed Mr. T. Leslie Hamner as President of the Club as successor to Major P.R. England, and mused that the past year had seen a widening of interests and programme at The Florrie. The Florencian newsletter was reintroduced ‘by a small, hardworking group of senior boys’, and won second place in the […]