Club and Institute Union

The Working Men's Club and Institiute is a bona fide co-operative founded in 1862 by Henry Solly. A great propagandist for clubs, he provided a much needed conceptual clarity to the notion of club work. He was also an important advocate for the extension of working class political rights and helped to set up the Charity Organisation Society. The Working Men's Club and Institute Union is now the largest non-profit making social entertainment and leisure organisation in the UK, representing the interests and views of six million club members. It is an advisory and defensive organisation, neutral in party politics and non-sectarian.