A long established club in Dorchester has decided to disband after 78 years.

Members of the Inner Wheel Club of Dorchester took the reluctant decision at their last meeting at the Wessex Royale Hotel on High West Street.

It was taken because the group’s members no longer wished to take on committee positions or remain part of the wider Inner Wheel organisation, due to their advancing age and family commitments.

Over the years, the club, whose motto is “Friendship and Service,” has enjoyed taking part in countless social and community activities and has raised thousands of pounds for local, national and international charities.

It was first formed back in 1939, when a group of wives of members of Dorchester Rotary Club got together and started meeting regularly.

The group decided to affiliate itself to the national and international organisations of Inner Wheel, one of the largest women's voluntary service associations in the world, and became the Inner Wheel Club of Dorchester.

In the past, its members have held posts in the Inner Wheel’s District 20 group, which covers the whole of Somerset and West Dorset, including chairman and treasurer.

The Dorchester club’s most senior member is Shelagh Aston, who is 100 years old, yet still took an interest in the club before it disbanded.

Joyce Potter, 79, who lives in Brewery Square and was a member of the club for fifteen years, said: “I think we are very sad but we just cannot get people to take posts, so there is nothing else we can do really.”

She said that “the people who have been president have done it two or three times” and there is no one else who is prepared to do it again.

She added that the best thing about the club was “the friendship” and “meeting up with other clubs in the district.”

The money left in the club’s account will be divided between the following charities: Water Aid, Sight Savers, Somerset and Dorset Air Ambulance, the local Diabetic Group, Dorchester Poverty Action, Dorset Search and Rescue, Weldmar Hospice, Dorchester Youth and Community Centre, and School in a Bag.

Joyce said: “The members are anxious to continue the firm friendships they have made over the years and will meet informally as a social group every month as before.”