Eccentrically Charitable Institution
As Charles Graves pointed out in the early 1960s, 'the eccentricity of the Eccentric Club is to be noted primarily in its fantastic generosity to charitable causes, for which it has raised over £100,000 in the past fifty years'.Indeed, the Club's name used to be associated with many good deeds. Before the First World War, before moving to the Ryder Street premises, the Club was famous for its open doors, friendly attitude towards strangers and good food - both inside and outside of 21 Shaftesbury Avenue: whilst inside it was for the members and their guests, outdoors there were always queues of the poor awaiting the distribution of food, particularly long - before Christmas, when the Club members were giving away their famous, 'best in London', free Christmas hampers.
During the First World War, members of the Eccentric were entertaining the troops on the frontline, raised over £25,000 for limbless soldiers, regularly visited wounded soldiers in the hospitals and distributed amongst them food, tobacco, cigarettes and pipes. About the same time some hospitals, hostels and orphanages were built by the Club.
Shortly after the First World War, there was a memorable performance at the White City when over a thousand of war veterans were entertained and comforted by the members of the Club. On average, since the 1920s the Club was spending over £1,000 a year on various charitable needs.
During the Second World War, further £50,000 were raised to support the victory and many of the Club's members were fighting on the frontline, while back at home, the Club premises in Ryder Street were seriously damaged by the enemy bombs, and a large part of the Club's original archive and library burnt down...
In the 1950s-1980s, the Club continued participating in many charitable projects, raising considerable funds for the good causes.
The New Club aims to honour this tradition. We believe that today, in the times of common globalisation, it is essentially important to support our local, national and European charities which far too often remain undervalued and underfunded whilst the larger international organisations's needs seem more of a priority. Local environmental and historic conservation issues may seem less important than the starving nations elsewhere, but they cannot and should not be ignored - for the sake of our children and our country.
