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As I have mentioned elsewhere, 4 King Street was originally used as the main registrars office for Blackburn and District. For some reason they decided to move to premises behind the building. The place they left consisted of a main entrance with rooms at both sides of a small passage.
All the rooms were on the ground floor as the upstairs part of the building was used by another charity. On the right was an entrance door leading to two rather large rooms divided by a small passage, rooms we did not really need at that time apart from small private meetings.
The rooms on the left, however, were very large indeed and in the main room stood a very large and heavy counter, which took up a great part of the room space, which we immediately knocked down and removed to make a very large room indeed.
Also in this room was a large strong room with a steel door at least 2 feet thick and so heavy that it almost took two people to open it. The door was locked so that nobody could accidentally get locked in. We could still use the room but could not close it fully, which was okay by us, as, at that time, we hadn't made many plans for the use of the rooms other than for meetings
Beyond this main room was another large room with one wall full of small square cupboards that had obviously been used for files. There was also a large safe with two keys that we found very useful, saving us carrying everything to and fro for each meeting.
There was a further small room that we assume had been used as a cloakroom, fitted with a sink and a separate toilet. It was after I had examined the rooms that the idea of a Day Centre for the Elderly came into my mind.
There was nowhere where elderly people could go in Blackburn for a rest and a cup of tea or coffee at a reasonable price. That is when we pushed ahead with the project. It was by pure accident that Jack Walker came into the picture.
Jack, at that time, lived at Balderstone and was a customer of mine. We had supplied some sound equipment at his home. One evening I received a call from him saying that he was holding a charity evening for Blackburn Lions and his music system was giving trouble.
It was a Saturday evening and he had a house full of guests. Unfortunately, I had been drinking at home and did not feel justified in driving, and when I explained this to him he offered to send a driver to pick me up at home if I could help out.
The driver came, took me down to the shop where I was manager and I collected the things I thought I would need, and then we went to his house. I managed to get the equipment working and was about to get a lift home when Jack asked me what I was up to.
I explained the things I was doing and also mentioned the project I had in mind and he immediately asked me to give him a list of everything I needed to start up and promised he would contact his friends in the Lions. Within seven days, everything I had asked for was delivered to King Street.
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