Happy Youth Club celebrates 60th anniversary |11 August 2023
The Happy Youth Club building
The Happy Youth Club in Victoria will celebrate its 60th anniversary on September 7, 2023 and several events are being planned for the special occasion. They include a mass service, dinner and photo exhibition.
The club, located on Olivier Maradan Street next to Ste Claire's building and opposite the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, was built on a voluntary basis by founding members, on land provided by the Roman Catholic mission, under the supervision of Brother Imier.
It was opened by Bishop Olivier Maradan on September 7, 1963.
Its principal aim is to promote good values among the youths and Seychellois citizens in general by providing entertainment facilities.
Currently the club offers indoor games such as domino, dart and snooker, accompanied by a bar service. It also offers low paid renting space to five small businesses; a car, mobile, barber and funeral services and a sports shop.
The 60th anniversary celebration will kick off on August 24, 2023 with a photo exhibition at the club. This will be followed by a special mass on the day of the anniversary on Thursday September 7, 2023 at 5pm at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The celebration will end with a special dinner at the Harbour Cafe Bar and Restaurant, Espace Building, on Friday September 8, 2023.
Speaking to Seychelles NATION, the secretary general of the Happy Youth Club, Georges Volcère, said that they would have liked to organise more activities to mark the anniversary celebration but they cannot do so due to budgetary concern.
“We depend more on sales from the bar to sustain our activities and for a very long time it has not been doing well. We tried to get some sponsorships and up to now we have not succeeded. It has been very difficult,” Mr Volcère said.
He noted they also cannot rely on membership contribution to sustain the club’s activities given a reduction in paid members from 160 before the Covid-19 pandemic to 90 after the pandemic. The membership fee is R500 per annum raised from R300 as of July 2023. Pensioners pay R250 as membership fee while young people under the age of 18 years old are eligible to free membership.
He called for more members, especially the youths and women, to join and help revive the club.
“Given that we on the committee are getting very old, we would like to see more young people come forward to take ownership and to lead the club. The club is not made only for men but for women as well. They can come and join. Anybody can join irrespective of their age,” Mr Volcère added.
The 69-year-old secretary general said that the future plan is to renovate the club to bring it on par with other buildings in Victoria.
The club’s committee has 10 members on a voluntary basis, for a period of two years.
Patrick Joubert
