Other events we've organised

Our first trial was an Open Mic Night several years ago.....around 20 people came along to that one.

We got busier very soon, but our original space meant we could only get around 50 people in, but we sold out all the time.

Once we extended we could get more in.

Now we have 90 coming along to every one now.

Many artists have been here many times and have it on their CV they've played Ashington Veterans Institute

The extension means our younger older people can have a dance if they want to.

We now run Music/Bingo/Quiz/Raffle Nights every six weeks or so.

Live acts, a snowball, pie and peas supplied by Glenton's and a free raffle - always sold out. We can only let 90 in due to space limitations. Our members usually snap up tickets before they go on general sale.

Our Community Garden gives us the opportunity to have outdoor events like Open Days, and local choirs coming to the the occasional coffee morning - weather-permitting.

Great for socialising - and to see the garden in all its glory.

Coffee Mornings are now held every first Saturday of the month, so why not drop in from 11am until 1pm. 

Have a cuppa and some fantastic home cooking and a look at what you might want to be part of.

We'll be glad to see you!

Our extension means we can have a variety of events in our Activity Room, like meetings and flower arranging sessions.

We also have groups coming in to meet weekly and run their own activities in a closed-off part of the institute, at very competitive rates.

We love asking the Rieverdale Scout Group to get involved. They've done some super activity work with us, like decorating crowns we cut and painted for them for King's Coronation, and creating some fantastic garden designs when we asked them to last summer.

Our latest excursion was to Pickering in May, 2026.

In the last three years we've been to Carlisle, Edinburgh, Scarborough, Harrogate, Richmond, Whitby, Kelso, Berwick, Seahouses, Bowness, Keswick, Gretna, Dumfries and York.

Our buses are always full, and we aim to run four every year, always with Cooper's.

We were delighted to help when the Sir James Knott School in Ashington wanted to interview "old" people about the "olden days" as part of their Ashington to the Future project back in 2024.

They came along to the institute to share their findings with us.

And we've just done a similar exercise with their year fives in May of 2026.